Elementary and middle-school kids blossom while sharing a garden and an education
Jodi Torpey Special to The Denver Post Monday, September 27, 2004 - Neatly tucked between two schools in a north Denver neighborhood is a crescent-shaped garden where some interesting things grow: flowers, vegetables and children. Students from Cole Middle School and Mitchell Elementary School are using this community growing patch to learn important things - like where broccoli comes from. The Mitchell garden is one of 20 school gardens built by the nonprofit organization with the fitting name of DUG, more formally known as Denver Urban Gardens. Since 1985, DUG has helped turn the soil of unused space into vibrant plots of earth. With the support of Denver Public Schools, DUG is attempting to plant the seeds of environmental stewardship throughout the metro area. "It takes a pioneering group to initiate and commit to a school garden," said Michael Buchenau, DUG co-executive director. "It's a cooperative effort between the principal, teachers, parents and community volunteers." During the past 10 years, there has been a resurgence in using school gardens to teach subjects such as math, science, weather and the language arts. The Mitchell program blends indoor classroom study with time spent outside. Students learn about healthy eating, seed planting, biology and composting. Garden time provides the physical activity of planting, weeding, turning compost and other garden chores. The students plant, grow and harvest an assortment of vegetables that include Chinese cabbage and all the ingredients needed to make salsa. "What's unique about this program, is that it pairs the two schools as an indoor and outdoor program," said DUG's Judy Elliott. "The mentor component paired seventh-grade students from Cole, some with behavioral problems or learning disabilities, with Mitchell second-graders. The seventh-graders became leaders and nurturers." "Kids find success in a different way here," Buchenau added. "It contributes to their future learning." Steve Replogle, a fourth- grade social studies teacher at Bromwell Elementary School, has used his school's garden to reinforce the Colorado history curriculum. "I felt like we had read about people settling the frontier, but the kids gained a greater appreciation of it after working outside in the hot sun." Max Segal, 10, was among the kids who toiled in the garden last year. "I learned a lot about gardening skills and what it would've been like for farmers every day," he said. Cole Middle School student Idaisha Hall weeds an area near the garden of Mitchell Elementary. The benefits of school gardens were first discovered in the 1890s. Teachers used gardens as a tool to help students study nature, learn good work habits and develop social skills. Each year the American Horticultural Society in Alexandria, Va., sponsors a National Children and Youth Garden Symposium. The 2004 symposium recently was in Ithaca, N.Y., and it attracted more than 200 teachers and children's garden directors from the U.S., Canada and Australia. One project of the horticultural society, the Growing Connection, is a collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The program is designed to teach children about the science of growing plants for food. Part of this educational program provides the opportunity for students to experiment with seeds that have gone into space in a National Aeronautics and Space Administration science balloon. In addition to helping children become more environmentally aware, some gardens help connect students from different cultures. The Global Children's Garden in Evergreen is one such example. "This started in 1999 as a dream to connect kids to the natural world instead of being passive observers," said Allan Werthan, founder and director. "The exciting part of the project is kids helping kids internationally to build greenhouses and to have a cultural exchange of experiences and resources." Children are involved in every aspect of the greenhouse garden. They plant, maintain and harvest flowers, herbs and vegetables. "Right now it looks like a tropical jungle in there," Werthan said, beaming. Werthan attended the horticultural group's Children and Youth Garden Symposium in July. "One phrase I heard many times at the symposium was, 'A garden in every school.' It is definitely a wave of the future, with so many schools and organizations now implementing school gardens," he said. "One foundation of the Global Children's Gardens is that the beneficiary of a greenhouse will challenge itself to help another group of kids to build a greenhouse," Werthan said. "It gives kids an opportunity to do something real in their world." The current project is helping the Southern Ute Academy in Ignacio build its own school greenhouse. Students from the Evergreen Montessori School are working with the Global Children's Gardens to support the fundraising for this greenhouse effort. ### ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
