Cypress Elementary

For many children, their experience with food is limited to that which comes from a can or a box. They have never seen a carrot growing in the dirt, watched lettuce sprout, or picked a pea from a vine. We want to change this at Cypress Elementary. We want our kiddos to get their fingers in the dirt! Our Healthy Lifestyles committee is planning a veggie/herb garden to complement the herb/butterfly garden we installed in the Spring. There are many proven benefits to having a school garden that we want to share with our students, including a connection to nature, understanding healthier lifestyles and nutrition, giving children leadership opportunities in caring for the garden and educational benefits. Our teachers will have opportunities for active learning in a real-life setting. Science, language arts, math, and more can be applied to lessons taught in the garden or in our outdoor classroom. (Teachers/students are already doing this in our current garden!)
Lastly, our garden creates community for our school. Our Cypress Family (parents, students, teachers, and volunteers )will help build it, care for it, plant and harvest the veggies, and reap the benefits of our labors. It gives us a sense of school pride like no team sport or mascot can do!