Article: Come Watch Us Grow!

Posted Thursday, January 24, 2019

In early 2018, The Anthony School was awarded a $2,000 garden grant from the Whole Kids Foundation, an organization whose mission is to support schools and inspire families to improve children’s nutrition and wellness.

The monies secured by the grant allowed the idea of a school garden and outdoor classroom to become a reality. Studies have proven the benefits of school-based gardens including: increased academic achievement, improved physical health, and improved social and emotional well-being.
In fact, the National Wildlife Federation's report – The Dirt on Dirt: How Getting Dirty Outdoors Benefits Kids – states benefits such as increased happiness, decreased anxiety, enhanced learning, and improved sleep quality.

The Anthony School garden is in full-swing; it is thriving and has become a learning center for all ages. Students learn about measurement by building birdhouses, migration through tracking the migration of monarch butterflies, habitats by creating toad abodes and bat houses, permaculture by working with compost layers, and color and texture by studying different vegetables. Students also use the outdoor classroom to sketch, journal and learn about living things indigenous to our area.

Produce from our garden such as basil, mint, carrots, and peppers are used by our Chef Paul Novicky in his multicultural, fresh school lunches.

Future projects for our school garden include building a drip irrigation system with rain barrels, repairing greenhouse tunnels, creating a ZEN garden complete with a labyrinth, and continuing weekly student visits to the garden that align with classroom curriculum. Come watch us grow!