Greenock Elementary School Garden

Chris Estadt and Gail Fleckenstein, teachers at Greenock Elementary School, started the garden in 2012 with funds provided by the Parent Teacher Organization. All teachers throughout the school year along with a summer program teach classes. Our school, which houses kindergarten through second grade, benefits from the garden by aligning common core standards and food literacy into the school environment. Students work in the garden, from planning to planting, and from harvest to table.

Our garden allows us to educate students on the SLOW foods philosophy. Students are part of the whole experience from seeds to harvest, and learn the many uses of vegetables and herbs by cooking and tasting. To extend learning, we instruct K-2 students in a summer gardening course where students learn about composting, worms, bees, beneficial insects and more. Our motto is: Growing gardeners not just gardens...One seed at a time.   All Greenock students learn from our garden throughout the year.

The need arose to be able to cook the harvest on-sight.  In order to enhance our program, our physical education teacher, Lynda Hoffman, came onboard with a grant enabling us to transform a room into a kitchen classroom. We used that money to purchase a refrigerator, an island for cooking demos, stadium seating, and basic kitchen items. Mrs. Hoffman uses the kitchen for health lessons including curriculum from the USDA. Teachers in all grades use the kitchen for cross curriculum instruction including nutrition and the importance of healthy eating. With our initial projects, many parents have shared that their children are trying healthy foods never tasted before.

Future planning includes completing our kitchen through the purchase of much needed cooking utensils and small kitchen appliances that will allow our students to have hands on experiences with the vegetables and herbs grown in our garden. Continued funding will allow students to learn about the cycle of sustainability and the farm to table movement. Our students will learn more about the benefits of clean eating from our garden and students can model and encourage the same at home.