Community gardens are one of many ways to learn the importance of growing your own food, and knowing where it comes from, which is exactly what students at Christ the King Cathedral School are doing. They’re not just eating the food they grow. Instead, they’re sharing it.
On Tuesday, Pre-K students and seventh graders at the school teamed up for a morning of gardening and enjoying the fruits (and fresh vegetables) of their labor, literally. This consisted of properly identifying the foods in the soil, determining whether or not they were ready to pick and washing them.
The campus garden was planted about two years ago, by Dr. Jessica Tullar Caroom, a parent, and the garden coordinator.
“Research shows us that children are five times more likely to choose fruits and veggies as a snack, if they grow it themselves,” Dr. Tullar Caroom said. “I was struck by just wanting to do a little more, wanting to connect a little bit more with lessons and take the kids outside.”
Since then, the kids now know where their food comes from, plus it’s taught them a great lesson of responsibility.
“You can have your vegetables!” said Leighton Ottis, 4. “We want to keep it clean.”
However, it’s more than an outdoor class. The various fruits and veggies the students picked are part of a far bigger project they’re working with other campuses on to feed those who are hungry in our community by donating the fresh produce to the South Plains Food Bank.
“As we make sure this is sustainable, but also to help other schools, what can I do for other schools out there? How can we help each other? Because we’re all interested in the same thing, and it’s nice to be able to share resources, and pull resources that way,” Tullar Caroom said.
“So we can keep ourselves healthy, because we want to take care of our people,” said Elizabeth Pankratz, 4.
The last service day at the Food Bank was back in March, but the students have another coming up in May to drop off more fresh produce.