The WAG (gardens we are growing)at St. Peter School

John Howell
Posted 9/25/14

Take a grant from Whole Foods; add some free seeds from URI; mix in a lot of student enthusiasm; have science teacher Sue Unger guide the process and young minds will blossom while area soup kitchens …

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The WAG (gardens we are growing)at St. Peter School

Posted

Take a grant from Whole Foods; add some free seeds from URI; mix in a lot of student enthusiasm; have science teacher Sue Unger guide the process and young minds will blossom while area soup kitchens get fresh vegetables.

The fifth and sixth graders at St. Peter School call it G3, but it doesn’t have anything to do with a wi-fi connection or Internet access. It all has to do with the school’s gardens, grounds and greenhouse. And, of course, there’s the fourth G of “growing.”

What sowed the initial “seed” was a $2,000 grant from Whole Foods more than a year ago. Unger applied for the grant, with hopes of acquiring a small greenhouse to be used with her science curriculum. The money bought the house, which was assembled by Jack Der Manouelian and the members of Troop 4 Gaspee, as Der Manouelian’s Eagle Scout service project.

Since then, the greenhouse has become the platform for multiple lessons, reaching beyond the science of hot and cold crops and farming and where our foods come from and the impact plants have on the environment. It has extended to the community and caring for one another.

Produce, including tomatoes, squash, eggplant, lettuce, radishes and beans, has been donated to soup kitchens at the West Warwick Senior Center and St. John & James Church as part of the school’s outreach and service projects.

Unger asked the class why this is important. Hands flew up and the answers varied from “It helps feed the poor” to “It provides nutritious food.”

Soon after securing the grant, the program gained the help of Bob Fuoroli, who assisted with the greenhouse and built raised vegetable gardens in front of the schoolyard. Class efforts have reached beyond the greenhouse and gardens to include the school grounds. Students weed the gardens and plant and tend flowers.

Last week, more than flowers decorated the front of the school; there were pink flamingoes. The plastic birds have helped raise funds needed to sustain the program. Flamingo “flockings,” where people pay to have the birds placed on the property of an unsuspecting friend, have raised about $1,000. In addition, outdoor night movies during the summer have raised another $1,000.

 

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