JENNINGS — Students at Jennings Elementary School are getting their hands dirty planting vegetables, flowers and herbs in the school’s garden.
The garden is part of an effort to help students learn where their food comes from and good work ethics, said special education teacher and 4-H leader Paulette Adam.
“They are learning that a lot of communities would die on the vine without what our agriculture industry provides,” Adam said. “You don’t just go to Piggly Wiggly and pick everything up.”
Students plant a fall and spring garden with a variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers including lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, peas, peppermint and rosemary.
“We try to keep something growing at all times to keep their hands busy and keep them connected to Mother Earth,” Adam said. “It also helps beautify our campus.”
The students share what they grow with teachers, students and others at the school.
“The students and employees all take something home,” she said. “It’s in our hearts to share our wealth with others. Last year we grew four and five pound purple cabbages so I put them in the teachers’ lounge and we had a silent auction.”
The students also learn the importance of work ethics and how it is important to see something through once you start it, she said.
“It’s important for them to learn that if you work for something you will get the fruits of your labor,” Adam said.
Students help take care of the garden during and after school pulling weeds, planting plants and seeds, picking crops, composting, testing the soil, watering and more.
They also keep journals documenting the growth of the plants, measuring rainfall, weighing the vegetables and other techniques that apply to growing crops.
“There’s a lot of hands-on learning,” Adam said. “They’re learning that on the farm if you don’t work , you don’t eat and that’s a real life lesson.”
The students are also seeing first hand the transition from seeds to plants and learning about pollination and fertilization.
“I’ve learned you have to have a lot of patience,” fourth-grader Breonna Paddio. “It takes awhile for everything to grow.”
Classmate Avi Coleman said she is learning how to grow her own food.
“It’s pretty cool knowing you can plant something in the ground and get some food,” Coleman said. “You can get food without it being from the store.”
Coleman said it is fun to watch the plants grow. but wish they would grow faster.
Fifth-grader Tyzavian Palfrey likes picking the vegetables when they are ready to eat.
“It’s fun to learn how to grow something,” he said.
Student Zion Leonard likes working in the garden with the hoe and watching the plants grow.
“It’s like making a cake but in dirt,” Leonard said.
Fourth-grader Zaelon Blair loves the garden and working in the dirt. He said cucumbers are his favorite.
from American Press: Your Best News And Advertising Source - Home http://ift.tt/2nf23Rd
0 التعليقات:
Post a Comment