Students at Sorgho Elementary School are learning much more about the food they eat each day — by planting it and harvesting it themselves.
Cafeteria manager Heather Haynes applied for a Fuel Up to Play 60 grant to create a garden that will be planted and tended by the students.
“I want to include vegetables that are regularly served in our cafeteria,” Haynes said.
On Thursday morning, Haynes guided first and second-grade students as they planted broccoli, lettuce and strawberries into raised wooden flower beds that she and her son built.
Haynes has cucumbers planned for the spring, and pumpkins that will be ready for picking by next fall.
Students from all grade levels will be able to make contributions to the school garden, with members of the fifth-grade Cafe’ Lighthouse Team overseeing the garden’s progress.
Sorgho principal Laura Cecil said that young students often have common misconceptions about food such as chocolate milk coming from chocolate cows and vegetables coming from the grocery store.
“Kids need to have an understanding of where food comes from,” Cecil said. “It will be amazing for the kids to eat what they grow and see it in action.”
Haynes said her plan is for “the kids to touch the dirt, plant the seeds, learn the value of maintenance, and enjoy the end result. I believe there is more appreciation for what they are being served in the cafeteria when they’ve invested in the process themselves.”
This plan to nurture the children as future gardeners and farmers will coincide with the Sorgho Café “Garden to Classroom” program, where cafeteria workers will bring items from the garden into the classroom for students to sample and experience.
“It’s amazing that we are all able to come together on this project and teach kids the value and rewards of hard work,” Haynes said.
