After-School Success Growing in the Barry Elementary School Garden

For 10 years the school garden at Barry Elementary in Yuba City, California has offered students enriching hands-on experiences supplementing classroom curriculum. Through parent and community collaboration, and a very small budget, the garden has continued to offer valuable educational experiences to the students in the Hive After-school Program since its inception in 2000. The following provides a brief overview of the Hive after-school program; some of the major successes of the after-school garden component, and a summary of resources that can help after-school programs implement a school garden.

Hive Program Overview

The Hive program began with 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) funding and has transitioned into After-School Education and Safety (ASES) funding. It is a free program for students staffed by regular day teachers, college students, parent and community members. The program is split into three, hour-long activity periods from 3:00 – 6:00 and a late bus is provided at 5:00 to transport students to their homes. The first hour of the program is spent on academic and homework assistance, while the second two hours are elective periods. Students sign up for eight-week elective classes, choosing from such electives as: homework support, PowerPoint instruction, arts/recreation, card making, crochet instruction, jump rope, dance, folk music, rock and roll workshop, Spanish and Punjabi lessons, science enrichment, and the garden.

Students harvest from the Barry Elementary Garden.Berry Elementary Garden History

Over 80 parent volunteers and staff raised the Barry Elementary garden in one day in October of 1997. During that day they laid a ground cover foundation for walkways, built beds, and put a picket fence around the garden site. The site itself was previously a low-traffic area on the school’s field. Since then, under the guidance of Daniel D’Agostini, Hive Coordinator and regular school day teacher at Barry Elementary, the garden site has expanded to include a greenhouse, chicken coop, small pond and waterfall, and a garden storage / teaching area with a refrigerator to keep freshly picked produce fresh, all powered by a PG&E donated solar panel. Although facilitated by D’Agostini, who was appointed by Superintendent of Education Jack O’Connell to the California School Garden Network, the Barry Elementary School garden is planted, maintained, and harvested by students participating in the Hive Program as well as the regular school day.

Family and Community Collaboration

Collaboration and parent involvement were paramount to the success of the Berry Elementary Garden. It was parents and staff who originally raised the garden in 1997. D’Agostini then created a wish list for the garden to which parents and the community responded. Mr. D’Agostini and a parent were able to acquire materials from a fire-damaged house that was being demolished to build a chicken coop. D’Agostini was able to acquire a donation of cement, and a cement contractor who had children in the Hive program worked with the donated materials to lay the foundation for a garden shed and patio. The 450 square foot Garden shed was built through collaboration between the school, the school district and a local company. The tables in the greenhouse were built out of mostly donated materials by employees at a local pump company, under the direction of one of the parents in the program. In order to build a gate between the chicken coop and the garden, one parent, a metal worker, brought a large piece of metal that the students drew on with chalk. He then carved out the students’ designs on the metal to make a custom gate for the garden. A landscape company donated the pond and waterfall, and a former student of D’Agostini has returned to repair the ten-year-old garden fence as part of an Eagle Scout project. The Barry Elementary garden does not receive regular funding from the district or school. It has utilized an annual contribution from the local Parent Teacher Association, and has acquired a garden grant from the California School Garden Network. Fresh chicken eggs are also sold from the program to buy chicken feed yet despite these efforts the local feed store continues to donate feed to support the program. The garden and all of its facilities operate off a solar panel donated by PG&E as part of their solar schools program. In fact, the electric meter runs backwards when the garden has a surplus of electricity, allowing the garden to draw back the same amount of power at no charge when their solar panels don't provide enough energy. The development of the garden was accomplished primarily through the collaboration with parents and community businesses and the work of engaged students in the Hive after-school program.

Real Education

The garden provides an enriching, hands-on environment to teach complex concepts. Examples include using the planting schedule to teach about seasonal cycles and composting to illustrate the carbon cycle and the interconnectedness of fungus, bacteria, and invertebrates in the creation of soil. Insect and animal (chicken) life cycles are also illustrated first hand in the garden. While touring the garden, one of the students pointed out that only the bigger bees could pollinate the snap pea flower because they have enough weight to push the closed flower open. This simple explanation illustrated that the student understood the concepts of adaptation and niche first hand. Fava beans, which harvest nitrogen from the air and distribute it into the soil, are used to teach about ecological cooperation and the air cycle. Photosynthesis is taught through the use of the garden, greenhouse, solar panel, and other methods of harvesting the sun’s energy, which include solar ovens that are used to cook breads, cookies, or brownies while the students are maintaining the garden. The garden at Barry Elementary has provided an avenue to supplement regular school day curriculum in an enriching and engaging fashion.

Students eat pesto made from garden-grown basil.D’Agostini states that the garden can be used to teach just about anything, and asserts that the kind of education happening in the garden may be some of the most “real education” the students receive. At the beginning of the year many students state that they do not eat vegetables. However, students are happy to eat what they have grown in the garden. They walk around eating directly from plants such as tomatoes and borage. Garden education gives them a connection to their food. Students in the Hive program have ground wheat that they grew to make flour for bread, brownies, and cookies. Students also learn about different cultural foods by making salsa and pesto with garden ingredients, growing purple potatoes from the Andes, and growing plants that are cornerstones of cultural diets such as amaranth and quinoa. Barry Elementary School students who participate in the garden learn that no matter where you live, sun, soil, water, and air make everything we eat and everything we wear.

As the Hive program begins, I am met in the garden by some of its participants. Kaitlyn and Simerin quickly introduce themselves to me and volunteer to take me on a tour of the garden, starting with the chickens, Kaitlyn turns to me and says, “When Mr. D’Agostini first handed me my chicken (she named) Snowfairy I just fell in love.” We find an egg and the students inform me that because it is still warm, it must have just been laid; the students tell me that chickens try to hide their eggs to protect them.

World Trade Center monumentMoving through the garden, I am assured the bees next to the lavender won’t hurt me as we make our way toward two tall wood and string structures with morning glory flowers growing up them. The students share with me that these structures symbolize the two towers as a monument to America’s losses on September 11, 2001. The students are excited to share with me the location where they had monarch butterflies in their garden earlier in the year, and eager to share that the butterflies came all the way from Mexico. As the students share the benefits of Fava beans, one of them finds a growth on the side of one of the bean pods. With authentic excitement he asks if he can go get a dissecting scope to examine this strange phenomena. As we all take turns examining the bean pods many theories about the cause of the growth start to sprout up around the table. It is apparent that this learning environment has offered an engaging opportunity for students to unlock a spirit of inquiry. For questions about the Barry Elementary School Garden or the Hive after-school program, please contact Daniel D’Agostini, Hive Coordinator and Berry Elementary School Garden Coordinator at ddagostini@ycusd.k12.ca.us

Resources

General garden planting schedule (Daniel D’Agostini)

• Winter: Lettuce, greens, broccoli,
  • Plant in September in a greenhouse
  • Transplant when first true leaves occur (indicates roots are strong)
  • Winter will slow down growth, want plants in the ground as early as possible for maximum growth before the cold season.
  • Harvest in February.

• Spring: Diverse flowers, chard, kale, onions, garlic, herbs, Fava beans, wheat
  • Plant in October and November for spring harvest
  • Harvest in April → May

The California School Garden Network
www.csgn.org
The California School Garden Network contains links to resources including planting information, curriculum, grants and fundraising, newsletters and regional connections.

The California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom
www.cfaitc.org
California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom provides links to lesson plans, and other teacher resources, including the 2007 Teacher Resource Guide available for free download.

National Gardening Association
www.garden.org
The National Gardening Association website includes access to a free newsletter, news and events, and expert gardening tips. Included is a, “kids gardening” section which includes available grants and funding strategies as well as activities and garden curriculum ideas.

Awards Support School and Youth Garden Programs
The National Gardening Association recognizes outstanding youth programs via the Healthy Sprouts Awards. The awards support school and youth garden programs that teach about nutrition and the issue of hunger in the United States. Maximum Award: $500 gift certificate to Gardener’s Supply. Eligibility: schools or organizations that plan to garden with children between the ages of 3 and 18. Deadline: October 15, 2007. www.kidsgardening.com/healthysprouts.asp

The California Department of Education School Garden Program http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/he/gardenoverview.asp
The CDE School Garden Program Overview outlines the benefits of a school garden on student health, nutrition and academic achievement and outlines policy issues surrounding school gardens in California.

PG&E Solar Schools
http://www.pge.com/solarschools/
The PG&E Solar Schools website contains links to grant opportunities, solar panel donations, teacher training, the solar schools blog, and access to solar schools data monitoring projects.