[Community_garden] Lively lessons from school garden even in winter (Portland, Or)

[Don Boekelheide]

The Oregonian
Portland, Oregon
Wednesday, January 03, 2007

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1167798303304180.xml&coll=7

Lively lessons bring garden's message to kids

DEE ANNE FINKEN

CAMAS -- It'll be months before fresh vegetables and
dazzling flowers explode in their garden. But students
at James David Zellerbach Elementary School know now's
the time to care for the little critters that will
make or break their springtime harvest.

Those gooey, slimy, red wigglers.

That is why every day at lunch, despite winter's
frozen hold on their school garden, members of the
Zellerbach worm patrol spring into action. Using tongs
and wearing denim aprons, the noontime volunteers sift
through their leftovers and redirect vegetable and
fruit scraps to bins where they become food for tens
of thousands of worms.

The children are part of a program that is garnering
high marks for uniting teenagers, elementary school
students and even young people who have gone afoul of
the law. The Camas Roots program, launched last year
by parents and school officials, uses Zellerbach's
5,000-square-foot garden to teach kids about the
environment and what they put in their bodies.

Everyone from first-graders to high school seniors to
youngsters who can't make it in conventional
classrooms digs in the dirt, pulls weeds and
ultimately sees the fruits of their labor. In addition
to Zellerbach students, participants from the Clark
County Juvenile Justice Restorative Community Service
Program and high schoolers from the nearby Camas
Alternative Program work in the garden -- hoeing,
watering and weeding as they learn about good
nutrition, agricultural basics and planning for the
future.

By spring, the waste from the worms will be compost:
nutrient-rich material that will make the difference
in the taste and texture of what's growing in the
garden.

"From an educator's point of view, among the things a
school garden provides are meaningful opportunities to
have outdoor experiences that connect with curriculum,
from reading to writing activities," said Patricia
Erdmann, Zellerbach principal. At every grade level,
school gardens provide teaching opportunities, she
said, whether it be the chance for first-graders to
use pumpkin seeds to learn to count or older students
learning advanced agricultural principles.

It's showing results. Since the garden was first
planted last year, fifth-grader Rusty Abatie, for one,
said he's eating more fruits and vegetables, even some
that aren't from the garden. "Probably three cans a
day," he figured.

Parents and school officials hope the garden before
long will also become a learning laboratory for
youngsters from Helen Baller Elementary and Liberty
Middle schools as well as the Boys & Girls Club at the
Jack, Will and Rob Center. Those facilities are within
walking distance of the garden.

"What we are doing out here is really a cooperative
effort," said Elisa Wells, a parent and one of the
Camas Roots founders.

That kind of successful community collaboration -- a
goal from the time the garden was an idea in founders'
minds -- is being realized. The Meyer Memorial Trust
recently awarded Camas Roots a $15,000 grant. Shortly
before that, the Southwest Washington Independent
Forward Thrust awarded $1,900. Contributions also have
come from Clark County Community Choices 2010 and
Clark Public Utilities.

"Often times these garden projects are a single effort
by one parent-teacher association or the work of a
single school," said Diane Redd, a consultant for the
Meyer trust who reviews grant requests. "What stood
out about this project was that, although it was
proposed by a single school, the founders also are
pulling in another elementary school, a middle school,
an alternative high school, a preschool, the Boys &
Girls Club, and the Clark County Juvenile Justice
Restorative Community Service Program."

Building a curriculum around gardens is not a new
venture in education, said Erdmann, the principal.
Numerous Portland schools have had garden projects for
years. But Redd said Camas Roots stands out because
its activities are aligned with student learning
requirements crafted by the state Office of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction.

"I would say it is a model of its kind," she said.

Arlan McMullen, who coordinates the restorative
justice service program, said youngsters who have
offended the community with petty crimes have a chance
to make amends in the garden. "Working side by side
with others illustrates to the kids that the community
supports the possibility of change," he said.

And the elementary students on the Zellerbach worm
patrol, like Rusty, know that helping with sorting
lunch leftovers means less garbage going to crowded
landfills.

"I like helping," Rusty said, "because I know I am
helping the planet."