South Bristol School students wrote and illustrated this book, titled “The Most Amazing Insect! Bees!” drawing from their experiences with the school’s bee colonies, which were partly funded by mini-grants from the Maine Environmental Association.
A Pre K to 8th grade school, South Bristol School is located on a long peninsula in Midcoast Maine in a community made up of lobster people, clammers, artists, authors, educators and professions of all types. Designed by students, the garden program started six years ago with one raised bed and has grown into a garden classroom with a three bed greenhouse, six outdoor raised beds, several pots of veggies, flowers and herbs, bee hives and a compost system. The school garden also collaborates with their school chef who incorporates veggies from the garden into school meals all season long! Start up funding was secured from multiple sources including the New England Grassroots Fund and Maine Environmental Education Association mini grants.
The school garden is integrated into their curriculum in many creative ways. During the school year, they tend to the garden and bees, do various art projects and take field trips to local farms and gardens. In the last year of a five year plan to expand the garden to support connections between their school and community, they enlist volunteers to help build garden beds, take care of the bees and water throughout the year. Summer maintenance has been solved with the help of volunteers and families who enthusiastically help throughout the summer to keep the small outdoor garden alive during times of heat! In addition, the school’s Summer Discovery Program will grow and continue to care for the outdoor classroom while school is out for summer.
This summer, they are launching a Summer Garden Club which is an opportunity for summer school kids as well as kids not enrolled in the Summer Discovery Program (including summer kids visiting with their families) to explore all their outdoor classrooms have to offer. However, due to a water system project, they have been asked to move their entire garden and have been exploring creative and different ways to plant. Luckily the students did not see this as an obstacle and have created a way to collect rain water and keep the gardens going!
They have created an amazing alternative outdoor space that they consider their legacy to the school in so many ways. To showcase their outdoor classroom and work in their garden space, they will be presenting at the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Utah in late June! Deb Thibedeau, their garden coordinator will also be presenting a workshop called The Artists That We Are-Weaving Social Emotional Learning into Horticulture. Their hope is to mentor other schools to start gardens and learn how to creatively teach students that love to learn outdoors. Stay tuned!
Want to know more?!
- Email Deb Thibodeau at dthibodeau@aos93.org
- South Bristol School Garden Directory listing
- A Week of School on Witch Island
- National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference
- New England Grassroots Fund
- Maine Environmental Education Association