Estes Park Elementary School

A school garden within the new Estes Valley Community Garden will allow children to develop a meaningful connection to the food they eat. It will support virtually every area of the elementary school curriculum, infusing the study of plants and nature with a sense of relevance and wonder. It will provide opportunities for children to learn outdoors in spring and fall, and support healthy eating habits by making locally grown plant-based foods an appealing and real thing.
Estes Park is a challenging place to garden due to a variety of environmental factors. In addition to a short growing season, it also sports a wide variety of hungry animals, both above ground and below. Adequate fencing and supplemental soil is too expensive for most individual gardeners; this shared space will allow children who never would have had the opportunity otherwise , to taste food they have grown themselves. Because the school garden is part of a larger community garden, it will build meaningful bridges between the children at the school and other segments of the town’s population.