by Liz Switzer and Jeff Beach, The Daily News, originally published on 5/19/2010
Students at Briarwood Elementary School are joining with local organizations and The Medical Center to learn about business, teamwork and nutrition in a partnership to grow and distribute vegetables for needy families.
Everyone benefits and it’s fun too, those involved with the project said.
Many students at Briarwood are refugees from Myanmar who relocated to Bowling Green through the International Center. Many participate in the school’s Backpack Program, a food assistance program for public schoolchildren through Feeding America, a national hunger relief charity, said Janice Lockwood, school family resource coordinator in charge of the project. Those children will receive produce from the garden project, too.
“A lot of our kids would not otherwise have access to good, healthy food, have an opportunity to do anything like this, or learn healthy eating habits otherwise,” she said. School staff is trying to incorporate as many Briarwood students as possible into the garden program. Xander Snodgrass, 6, is one of them.
“I like taking care of the garden and watching the food grow,” he said. “It’s fun to plant a garden and it’s very fun to eat what comes out of it. Corn and carrots are my favorites.”
Casey Goodman, an emotional behavior disorder teacher, works with kids of all ages in the garden. The project is especially good for his students, he said, because it teaches them teamwork in a setting that fosters positive dialogue and results.
The idea for the garden came from Jenn Golden, community wellness manager at The Medical Center, who was interested in helping with a garden at a school as a way to promote better nutrition.
“It has been proven that children who see fruits and vegetables grown from start to finish are at least willing to try them,” Golden said.
The Medical Center has been involved with Briarwood for several years through a Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce business-education partnership program.
Golden said she looked into an educational grant for the garden and learned about how lessons from a garden project could be applied to all the subject areas for the class. While the grant didn’t pan out, Golden said the garden sparked the interest of the students, so they pushed ahead on their own.
Since students will be out of school when most of the produce comes in, volunteer school staff and workers from The Medical Center will help maintain the garden over the summer and distribute the food to various food charities.
Golden said The Medical Center could build on the Briarwood experiment. “If any other schools are interested, we’d love to help,” she said.
Briarwood student Nolan Dunard, 8, thinks that is a good idea and wants to see the project carried over to next year. “It’s a fun activity and I like being with my classmates outside and talking to them about the work we are doing. It takes a lot of teamwork and we like that.”
