Worthington Hooker School Gardens

The Worthington Hooker School Garden Project has several parts. We have two school sites, the K-2 grades on a tight urban lot, and 3-8 grades on several acres with ample planting space. This school year, at request of teachers and school admin, and with support of community partners, we launched both the Edible Gardens and Schoolyard Habitat programs. Starting with 4 raised beds at each site, the edible gardens will be added to each year. Likewise the Schoolyard habitat program will start with butterfly gardens and tree planting this spring, and be the cornerstone for a school wide sustainable landscape plan.
The goals of the WHS garden project are as follows:

1. Promote experiential learning for curricular enrichment- provide opportunities for teachers to innovate and expand the classroom to the outdoors
2. Teach environmental stewardship and civic participation via community-based projects;
3. Improve the health and nutrition of children and the community through physical activities and healthy food choices
4. Serve as a demonstration project for sustainable and relevant school gardens city-wide.
The WHS garden collaborators - students, teachers, administrators, parents and the School Garden Resource Center at Common Ground - will achieve our goals by continuing to cooperate, innovate and adapt while planning, resourcing, building and gardening. The students will be the leaders-for example the 6-8th Grade Ecology Club will lead the K-2 students in the Schoolyard Habitat program. Teachers from all grades integrate the garden into classroom activities at appropriate levels of complexity. In Science, students study plant ecology and the physical and chemical properties of soil. In Language Arts, students use the outdoor classroom for journaling and as inspiration. They will add, chart and measure various garden parameters, during Math.
The Garden Project will also enhance the schoolyard as a center of community activity through volunteer, neighbors and community partner involvement. Through the School Garden Resource Center, the WHS Garden Project is connected to a network of emerging school gardens across the region and will contribute to and share with via garden workshops, teacher training, resources sharing and festivals.