The Schoolyard as World

Our Sustainability Committee created the metaphor that gives our program its name: The Schoolyard as World.  This world is the laboratory where our students can experience citizenship and learn of a life wide with access to nature and its amenities as well as those of chickens and food fresh from their gardens.  In our program, students will also enlarge our connection to people and resources in our community through outreach and service learning.

Though many of our classrooms have had gardens since 2006, worm composting since 2013 (over 1,200 pounds consumed to date), and a bee yard more recently, we have not had a unified program.  This past year I have been hired to help the school integrate our existing programs into a campus-wide plan.  This plan includes gardening at all levels as a basis for subjects such as math, science, nutrition, art, observation skills and data collection for study.  

This summer the school will construct a chicken house, additional garden space and begin improvements such as a garden classroom.