Carpenter Hill Class Gardens

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Carpenter Hill Elementary is a fairly new school.  Playground landscaping does not exist.  That is when the idea of our Class Gardens got started.  The gardens would provide beauty to the playground, but most importantly would provide another optional area for learning.  Thanks to individual donations, we were able to add six 4x4 raised bed gardens to our playground and fill them with soil.  Each grade level has a garden to use however they want.  Through guidance from our teachers, approximately 650 students have the opportunity to plant, maintain and grow a garden.  Each raised bed has a theme:

Kindergarten=flowers, 1st=flowers, 2nd=salad garden, 3rd=cacti, 4th=natives and 5=bulbs.  These themes were just a starting point for the classes.  Some have added certain seeds or plants to coordinate with particular studies.  This is the first year that the gardens have been completely utilized and participation of any kind of planting is encouraged.  Planting and maintenance of the gardens occurs during daily 20 minute recess and also by teachers and parents if needed.  Students and teachers did all of the planting.  One of our second grade teachers, Mrs. Simmons, decided to plant the salad garden with her class and they will be enjoying a salad together on the last day of school.  One of our priorities at Carpenter Hill has been encouraging healthy food choices.  The best way to get kids to eat fresh vegetables is to have them plant them, watch them grow, harvest them and then prepare them.

When the students come out for recess, many run to the gardens first to observe any new growth.  This is also snack time for many and if the snack waste is compostable, you can see the students throwing items in the new composter.  The students are really excited about the composting process and can't wait to add the first batch to the gardens when they return in August.

We continue to provide for the gardens through donations from the PTA Envrionmental Committee, parent donations and teacher donations.  We hope to further enhance the playground area with more nature/learning spaces each year.