The Wildcats School and Community Garden will serve to nourish students’ bodies and minds, build and strengthen connections with the community, provide opportunities for exploration and reflection, and deepen their understanding of the world around them.
Sebasticook Valley Elementary School garden in Newport has a new garden coordinator who started over the summer, Vallerie Brown. The school garden consists of a vegetable and herb garden, flowers and ornamentals, an orchard plus a greenhouse!
Vallerie quickly evaluated the garden and its needs and then with the help of a few community volunteers, got right to work. One of the first tasks Vallerie initiated involved removing broken structures and making a space for a new large compost pile. Next the group cleared garden beds, addressed existing plants, planted new seedlings and moved equipment to better accommodate student learning.
This fall the garden’s main focus is on bugs! Valerie has found that many students are fearful of bugs in the garden and she wants to shed light on the good, the bad and the curious creatures that inhabit the garden space. All grades Pre-K to 4th will be learning about bugs and learning to love them through exploration, books, and crafts. She has started with bug explorations and the students are working on making a book about their findings.
As the weather grows colder and the garden begins to change, students will talk about seasons in the garden. One potential topic will be to learn all about the multiple ways to use apples and having an apple cider demonstration. Sebasticook Valley Elementary has an orchard provided by ReTreeUS, who has planted over 100 orchards in school gardens and counting!
Valerie looks forward to being able to feed kids curiosity about the world that surrounds them starting with their school garden.
Want to know more?!
- Vallerie Brown at vbrown@rsu19.net
- SVES Farm to School website
