We are "famous" :)

We had a nice little write up on the FCPS website! 

by Laura Wells

Service Learning Resource Teacher

Fairfax County Public Schools

571-423-4772

lcwells@fcps.edu

We are looking forward to showing her how many pounds of lettuce we can harvest!! ;)

Harvest Time! Centreville ES and Hollin Meadows ES

It’s fall, which means Harvest Time at many school gardens around the county. Fifth and sixth grade students at Centreville ES harvested over 10 pounds of lettuce and two bags of other greens from their school’s garden to donate to the Katherine Hanley Family Shelter for homeless families. Check out the link to see more pictures of the students and their delicious produce!

     

To learn more about life cycles, measurement and comparison, the Hollin Meadows Head Start students recently harvested 50 pounds of sweet potatoes from their school garden.  Students learned about what insects make their garden home, what a plant needs to grow, and how everyone in the Hollin Meadows community benefits from the school garden. There was a lot of excitement and “look what I found!” The sweet potatoes will be roasted and shared with everyone at the school, so that everyone can learn to enjoy eating fresh, healthy vegetables. Coming up in November: lettuce, kale, and spinach!

     

Lessons in the Garden!

One of my favorite things about this job is bringing our youngest students out and setting them free to explore!!  The Kinders curriculum is so full of lessons that are brought to life by coming out to the garden.  Their topics in the fall are Apples, Ants, Pumpkins and Squirrels!  Yikes-they might as well just spend the whole day outdoors!  WHAT- that is truly crazy-garden-teacher-talk ;)  Last week, the classes came out with their scientific tools(clipboards, pencils, and magnifying glasses) to study ants carrying sugar crystals twice as big as their heads back to their colonies.
This week is pumpkin study and lots of talk about life cycles and big orange fruit.  The number of things that can be made with delicious pumpkin flavors is endless(just go to Trader Joe's for proof).  When the students come to the garden, and can actually touch the plant to realize the texture and see all of the parts of a squash plant working together, it all clicks in their adorable brains.
"Kiss your Brains my friends!!"