Our December PA Meeting hosted Garden Supervisor, Rory Tira, in a fantastic and inspiring presentation about how our garden works for EVERY student on our campus. The talk was inspired by a conversation with PA leadership about our lunch program, which spurred a bigger conversation about how students eat at school, and specifically how they learn to eat.
Ms. Tira shares that, “Learning about food, what we call food literacy, is built into the garden program and reaches the whole school community, far beyond what's served during the lunch hour. Specifically, students learn that eating well means eating seasonally. The food we grow is all beautiful, organic food and students have wide access to it.” In the lower grades, students are learning to try new tastes and say "yes" more often to unfamiliar foods. In middle school, students are learning how to grow food, bring it into the kitchen and prepare a meal. These are tools to last a lifetime.
Three stand-out features separate our garden from most school gardens:
- Our 1/4 acre footprint didn't happen overnight. Over 15-20 years, we have built a spectacular space that hosts fruit trees, native plants, wildflowers, vegetable rows, a greenhouse, pollinator friendly perennials, a children's play area, compost area, herb garden, picnic lawn, tool storage, and outdoor kitchen and classroom space. This has happened piece by piece, over a long time with visionary leaders.
- Our garden is not volunteer based. Volunteer parents and teachers often start great school gardens but they are difficult to sustain. Country Day has committed resources to build this as a key part of the experience here; it is part of the identity of the school.
- Our garden functions as an outdoor classroom and students visit and engage regularly.
“We have big wins and moments where everything clicks and the magic happens. The garden elevates life skills, wonder, problem solving, mixed age levels working side by side, and the peace and mental wellness that comes from time spent in green nature space."