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I see something!
At Wells Branch Elementary a lot is growing on
from kindergarten to fifth grade students are having a blast
getting dirty. Why do you think worms move more dirt?
because they dig around and it keeps them moving! Assisted by the Sustainable Food
Center
grants, donations, and current and past parents
they turned a courtyard into another yardstick for learning
We are called the Green Team
at Wells Branch Elementary so we're here just on a mission to make the school as
green as possible
and with that is hand in hand goes the garden so we teach
edibles, how to plant seeds, do transplants,
how to harvest, science lessons, erosion,
nutrition, involving the community, all the different jobs involved with getting
food to your plate. I like to garden
because I like
tomatoes and so whenever I heard about this club, I wanted to join so
I could plant stuff and then
like help the earth. They promote their healthy mission
and raise money for the garden at the weekly farmers market
This is such a wonderful
project because it allows the students to get that hands-on
authentic experience working with the earth
with planting growing harvesting learning about earth
science, life science and doing it in such a real
meaningful way. Mrs Seeny and the science staff
they came together with the garden team and theykinda let us know
what learning objectives they wanted covered in the garden. Good morning second grade!
I just think it's a wonderful opportunity
we had nothing like this when I was a kid.
In a couple of classes we actually worked with the rose hips there
and then we made tea out of them. we think it's healthy for you at home we have a garden as well
and that's kinda what got us interested in helping here it's not just gardening
we really learn more about bugs
and problem-solving when we garden because we don't always
know what to expect they try to connect what they've learned about the water
cycle
and maybe why the plant died from not enough water
we have plant diseases and little plant detective microscopes
they're little lenses and they go out and they try to figure out
what's going on and why and it also helps
children with some of their math and science we had them measure out the square foot we
had them
place everything get it square here's an up cycle trick to help the youngest
gardeners
measure spacing between seeds so
the cardboard with the the circles already cut out
help the kids visualize exactly what the two inch separation would be
this green generation already gets the compost
connection I like the compost because
well it makes the world a better place because
we are reusing things for
the soil and it's better than just throwing everything in the trash
Some lessons reinforced bilingual education
what it is is half of the students are native English speakers and
half are native Spanish speakers
the students basically teach each other their native language so
by the end a fifth-grade you have students that speak fluently
in English and Spanish
the labyrinth is a playground puzzle its plans for bees and butterflies
extend lessons about taking care of pollinators
It lets them get a burst of energy out and
gets them moving which is also very healthy for the kids
as the fifth graders graduate they're picking up a few marketing lessons in
there Friday afternoon
farmers market. That's been an exciting project because we've taken the kids all the
way from
researching the type of gardening they want to do and planting
all the way through tending the garden and then selling their produce and
doing all the math and the business side behind the scenes
the students adapted a lemonade stand design they found online
with donated materials teenagers from a teacher's church group built it
the fifth graders painted and styled it up
Farmers market! Now open for business
we have carrots, tomatoes, banana bell peppers,
lettuce, oregano,
I guess it's very fun to feel like being a part of this garden and making a difference
and like we just grow these vegetables and then
we sell them so people can take home grown vegetables
for them to take home to cook and to eat
Every Friday after we collect all over money and after we go home
we basically take it and count it and
we subtract
the money that we start with which is the money that we give change with
and we take that and we get our total
we organize it by the type of money it is. The number of one's
the number five's the number of tens and the number of twenties that we have that
day
and we just total that up
in Excel and we print it out on our spreadsheet and send it to the PTA
with their proceeds the bought a greenhouse to raise more plants
when they came up a little short. a garden volunteer donated the rest
my son and daughter went through this school back in the 80's and
I myself am an active gardener at home
with vegetables and fruits and so
on
and then I heard about the gardening program over here and it was a natural match for
me to get involved with it because I'm interested in teaching
my kids about gardening and plus I felt like
I owe the school because both my kids are very successful
the Green Team students are reaping a lot
they are just so eager to learn it's just so neat to see them get excited
there has to be a balance a happy medium so yes it's okay to do
computer it's okay to do technology
but at the same time you really want the children to get outside and be in nature
and explore I mean that's a great way of learning is
hands-on experience. I have three children at the school
and I start gardening when they were really young
it was one of the few things that we could all enjoy and
even though they're different ages they can all participate
they like to harvest their own vegitables and it helps me with dinner and getting
little kids to eat vegitables. A really important lesson in this young garden
is thinking about the future the fifth graders wont see lavish production
on the fruit trees but those kinders will. I basically live by the
proverb
treat your earth well because it wasn't given to you by your parents
but it was loaned to
you by your children so we have a duty to take care of our planet
and by doing that that's one of the major reasons I started the garden was we
wanted to teach kids how to live a sustainable lifestyle
how to grow their own food where the food comes from
to know all of that and to hopefully do that for themselves in the future