News & Events

A Head Start to a Green Future

by Jill Chrupcala

Kayden & Sheny
watch their garden grown.

William plants his seedling.

A pile of dirt, a few seedlings, two adults and about a dozen preschoolers - a new favorite recipe for a healthy future.

At Joel Peckham Head Start, a classroom by the name of “Tropical Fish” planted a small vegetable garden earlier this summer. Although turning donated seeds, an underutilized speck of land, and recycled fruit containers into an environmentally friendly garden may seem like a simple task, it was an eye-opening undertaking for this young class.

Holding up a wax bean earlier today, Jill Chrupcala asked the class if they knew what is was. “Banana” was the first reply, which was then corrected by a classmate - “No, it’s a tiny banana”. The final correction by one of the older students of “No, it’s a bean!” brought a laugh to adults and a smile to the children’s faces as they beheld a fruit, ahem, vegetable, of their labors.

Backtrack a few months, when earlier this year the Head Start teachers wondered if a garden would be the perfect way to bring their curriculum to life. The ability to incorporate different topics such as: caring for our environment, plants and bugs - and daily care for the project was not taken lightly by the staff or students. Starting with salad-container “greenhouses” and soil, the class began to sow their seeds. Upon reading an article on rain barrels, a few fruit containers were saved and converted in to “rain buckets”.

Of course everybody’s favorite memory of this project is the day of planting; also known as the day of digging in the dirt to find worms. Teachers were impressed by how delicately each child transferred the tiny seedlings into the not-so-delicately dug holes. The children hand-watered the garden with water from the rain bucket until the seedlings (and children) could be watered with the hose.

Now the corn stalks are sidled up next to huge leafy zucchini plants, the squash and cucumber are inseparable, the green peppers are trying to top the wax beans and the tomatoes stand alone. Throughout the recent thunderstorms the rain buckets have been instrumental on the dry days, and the water hose is now used sparingly on the lush, perhaps slightly overrun, vegetable garden.

All in all, this simple garden has brought to light a very important lesson of healthy living and follow through on a commitment. This project was not only about caring for and understanding our environment, but has helped each student start to learn that waiting for something wrought by their own hands may be the better choice in life. They might not fully understand that value for years to come, but instilling it at a tender age with a simple garden is a very rewarding way to deliver and receive such a message.

For more information about EBCAP Head Start and enrollment for fall pre-school classes, call toll free 877 367 2008 or visit www.ebcap.org.