May 10, 2018 -- Gearity preschooler Andersen Burkle likes “to play in the dirt.” And he gets that opportunity as part of the outdoor education and activities that exist at the STEM school he attends.

Gearity students, from preschool through 5th grade, take a hands-on approach to caring for their school’s large outdoor property, preparing garden beds, managing the hoop house, and enjoying the literal fruits of their labor.

“We always try to plant something early in the spring that will grow quickly,” said building STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) coordinator Jackie Taylor, “so that the kids can enjoy at least one harvest before we break for summer.”

 

Students in Debbie Buckley’s special education class have already been outside multiple times this spring, cleaning beds and planting lettuce and tomatoes. “It’s good for our kids to learn where food comes from,” said Ms. Buckley, whose curriculum places heavy emphasis on exposure to real-world experiences. “Plus this might help them with future career options.”

The entire school will be outside on Monday, May 14 for a Garden Clean-Up Day. Each class will “adopt a bed,” which they will clean out, prepare and plant. They will then assume responsibility for maintaining and weeding the bed for the remainder of the school year. Most vegetables will be harvested next school year, in the late summer or early fall, when students will have the chance to pick, clean and share their fruits and vegetables. 

The May 14th activities will also include outdoor education, with stations focusing on social studies, language arts and math run by building teachers. “The science is obviously there,” said Ms. Taylor, of lessons that will be led by building science teacher Sean Sullivan. “But I want both teachers and students to see how we can incorporate nature and the outdoors into everything else we teach and learn.” 

 

Students in a 3rd grade classroom recently created maps of the outdoor space, using a key, compass rose and legend to mark the location of the various garden beds. Tamara Bishko, Gearity’s lead literacy specialist, will provide ideas for language arts activities, everything from writing directions for how to care for a certain plant to enjoying poetry and literature about the great outdoors.

Math is a natural connection as students have to measure the area and volume of their garden beds, convert amounts of soil or fertilizer from standard to metric, and track and graph the growth of their plants.

Teachers are also learning, as was the case when Ms. Taylor and 1st grade teacher Sherri Malek sat down with Kip Schmidt and MaryAnn Dyer, two Master Gardeners who volunteer their expertise at Gearity, to plan their gardens.

“Master Gardener” is an official designation which requires ten weeks of training and 50 hours of annual volunteer time. “I’ve always enjoyed passing my avocation on to others. I get a real kick out of working with kids,” said Mr. Schmidt. Both Ms. Dyer and Mr. Schmidt plan to return to Gearity to help with the actual clean-up and planting day, but they also provide much-needed advice in advance.

For example, Ms. Taylor had always wanted to plant apple trees, but changed her mind when she learned that they need to be sprayed with chemicals at least four times per year. The Master Gardeners instead suggested something easier to maintain like raspberries and even went so far as to brainstorm how students could plant different colored raspberries and then conduct taste tests.

One of Ms. Dyer’s ideas is already being implemented by Julie Soroka’s preschool class. They’ve gathered sticks to build a structure around a tree onto which their pea shoots will wrap and grow, creating a tent-like effect where students could sit in the shade and enjoy a book.

Ms. Soroka’s student Andersen loves working outside because “it’s fun,” but he also worries about eating those peas. “I think we’re going to have to cook our peas and I don’t like them cooked. I like crunchy peas, not mushy peas.”

 

However you like your peas, the entire Gearity community is invited to participate on Monday, May 14. Students and staff will be outside from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. and they welcome parents and community members to join them.