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LAS CRUCES - Denise Corrales is in the middle of her first year teaching pre-school at Booker T. Washington Elementary School. She is already planning class activities for a new garden and outdoor classroom the school is building in the courtyard. Corrales said she wants to teach her class the basics of gardening and get them excited about growing things on their own.
"I'm looking forward to the engagement of the kids in putting the garden together, and being able to watch it grow," she said.
Corrales said teachers at Booker T. Washington encourage hands-on learning, and the garden and outdoor classroom will be another way in which the kids will be able to learn through experience.
Of course, not every elementary school gets to have its own garden and outdoor classroom, but Booker T. Washington Elementary School has earned it through a 2010-11 Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant of $4,220, which the school was able to get through the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation.
The school was selected based on a first-need basis, and with many schools cutting funds, Booker T. Washington is just one of the many schools trying to provide a good education for their students on a tight budget. In fact Booker T. Washington is a year-round, low income, Title I elementary school, in which 100 percent of its students receive free or reduced lunch, because they are at or below the poverty level based on family size and income.
Many of the students also come from
Principal Terry Romano said many of these students do not get the opportunity to grow a garden at home. Many students also do not get the opportunity to try different varieties of fruits an vegetables at home, either, because their families cannot afford to buy them, or because it is not part of their family's lifestyle.
"It's a known fact that students in low social-economic areas don't eat vegetables, or fruits for that matter, because they are expensive," Romano said.
Romano said she hopes parents will help with the building process of the garden alongside their kids and the employees of Lowe's, who will help the school build the garden until it is complete.
Lowe's Home Improvement warehouse manager Larry Marta said he is excited about the project, and that he and his employees at Lowe's plan to help as much as they can throughout the entire process. He also said Lowe's will donate a few plants and other materials to the school to get them started.
"It's definitely not just about the grant," Marta said. "It's about the community involvement as well."
Nancy Sanders, family school liaison with federal programs, who wrote the grant for Booker T. Washington, said she was happy to do something that would contribute to the climate of the school.
"If you teach children how to care for a garden, then you are teaching them something that applies to the rest of the world," Sanders said.
She said the hands-on teaching in growing plants and vegetables is also very practical and applicable to other areas in life.
Romano said some of her plans for the garden include a gazebo where classes will be able to sit and be instructed in a shaded area.
"I thought we could have a gazebo, so that the teachers and students could talk about things before they start out, and go onto plant things and tend to them," she said.
Romano said building a garden at the school has been a plan of hers for a long time, and that she is excited to see it finally become a reality. She said the idea for a garden and outdoor classroom came about through another grant the school had received, in which the kids were able to taste fresh fruits and vegetables. When she saw how the kids reacted to certain vegetables they learned about, she thought a garden would be the best way for the kids to get real-world experience in what it takes to grow fruits and vegetables.
"I thought, wouldn't it be just wonderful if we could go outside and plant things on our own, and not only help the community, but help those kids in need," Romano said, "because our own community has that need."
Romano said they plan to get started on building the garden as soon as possible, after plans are made for materials needed, and they are able to find out exactly who will be involved in the process.
"If we have enough help, we'll just go for it," Romano said.
Marta said as soon as the project is under way, he expects it to only take about two or three weeks to complete.
Romano said once the students begin growing fruits and vegetables, if there is enough to go around, she would like to make it a community garden, in which the school could donate some of what they grow to the local food bank. This way, the students will also be able to learn what it means to give to others and be involved in the community. Plans to invite speakers to the school to talk about the benefits of locally grown fruits and vegetables and share skills in growing in a particular climate at the school garden are also a possibility in the near future.
Romano said she is extremely thankful for all the help Lowe's plans to give to the school not only in the creation of the garden, but all they plan to donate for the garden as well.
"I just want to thank our business partners, because without them, this wouldn't take place," Romano said.
Sun-News editorial assistant Alexia Severson can be reached at (575) 541-5453.
