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Log inSchools cultivate organic foods fresh approach to learning
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Schools cultivate organic foods fresh approach to learning
by Outspoken on Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:43 am
Schools cultivate organic foods as fresh approach to learning
Bonny Eagle's greenhouse is the latest example in a trend to teach kids about growing healthy food.
By JOHN RICHARDSON
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
BUXTON —The students at Bonny Eagle Middle School are about to get in touch with their roots – and their veggies.
Last week, workers poured the foundation for a greenhouse just outside the school's sixth-grade wing. Within a few months, students will be cultivating their first crops of organic vegetables and, in the process, learning about science, economics, health and other subjects. And soon after that, they'll be in the school's cafeteria enjoying fresh lettuce and the other fruits of their labor.
"We have teachers who are very excited and kids who are very excited," said Deborah Howard, assistant principal at the school. "It's another way to help kids learn."
The greenhouse is the latest example of Maine schools creating outdoor, living classrooms that provide hands-on lessons in sustainability, as well as all the traditional classroom subjects.
Lincoln Middle School's outdoor classroom in Portland is a solar-powered geodesic dome. The Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast has a greenhouse similar to the one under construction here and its students grow tons of food each year.
Along with supplying fresh, organic vegetables to the school lunch program, the Belfast school also donates produce to local food banks, a lesson in community service that Bonny Eagle Middle School also plans to provide its students.
Bonny Eagle's 28-foot-by-48-foot greenhouse is being built next to the school and the parking lot and takes advantage of a full southern exposure. It will have polycarbonate panels and water tanks that will absorb sunlight during the days and release heat to keep the plants warm during the nights.
The project is a joint effort of the school and Rippling Waters organic farm in Standish. The nonprofit farm produces and sells organic vegetables and seedlings at area farm markets, but is mostly focused on educating people about the value of locally produced, sustainable food.
"We're trying to reconnect people to what gardening and farming is all about," said Richard Rudolph, a retired University of Massachusetts academic dean and the founder of Rippling Waters. "People need to know where (food) comes from, and how it's grown."
Rippling Waters has installed gardens at two elementary schools in the district, as well as at two senior housing complexes. It has a summer apprenticeship program for local high school students, who help about 350 volunteers work the 12-acre farm. The greenhouse brings the effort to the more than 900 students in the middle school.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=220016&ac=PHnws
Doug Jones/Staff photographer
Bonny Eagle's greenhouse is the latest example in a trend to teach kids about growing healthy food.
By JOHN RICHARDSON
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
BUXTON —The students at Bonny Eagle Middle School are about to get in touch with their roots – and their veggies.
Last week, workers poured the foundation for a greenhouse just outside the school's sixth-grade wing. Within a few months, students will be cultivating their first crops of organic vegetables and, in the process, learning about science, economics, health and other subjects. And soon after that, they'll be in the school's cafeteria enjoying fresh lettuce and the other fruits of their labor.
"We have teachers who are very excited and kids who are very excited," said Deborah Howard, assistant principal at the school. "It's another way to help kids learn."
The greenhouse is the latest example of Maine schools creating outdoor, living classrooms that provide hands-on lessons in sustainability, as well as all the traditional classroom subjects.
Lincoln Middle School's outdoor classroom in Portland is a solar-powered geodesic dome. The Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast has a greenhouse similar to the one under construction here and its students grow tons of food each year.
Along with supplying fresh, organic vegetables to the school lunch program, the Belfast school also donates produce to local food banks, a lesson in community service that Bonny Eagle Middle School also plans to provide its students.
Bonny Eagle's 28-foot-by-48-foot greenhouse is being built next to the school and the parking lot and takes advantage of a full southern exposure. It will have polycarbonate panels and water tanks that will absorb sunlight during the days and release heat to keep the plants warm during the nights.
The project is a joint effort of the school and Rippling Waters organic farm in Standish. The nonprofit farm produces and sells organic vegetables and seedlings at area farm markets, but is mostly focused on educating people about the value of locally produced, sustainable food.
"We're trying to reconnect people to what gardening and farming is all about," said Richard Rudolph, a retired University of Massachusetts academic dean and the founder of Rippling Waters. "People need to know where (food) comes from, and how it's grown."
Rippling Waters has installed gardens at two elementary schools in the district, as well as at two senior housing complexes. It has a summer apprenticeship program for local high school students, who help about 350 volunteers work the 12-acre farm. The greenhouse brings the effort to the more than 900 students in the middle school.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=220016&ac=PHnws
Doug Jones/Staff photographer
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Plato (427-347 BC)
