April 28 was our big Planting with Burpee Day and we could not have ordered a more beautiful day! It was hard to believe that just 24 hours prior, horrific storms were wreaking havoc across the Southeast, and Nashville was absolutely saturated. We lucked out! The sun was out and we had a nice breeze — perfect gardening weather!
The Burpee Installation Team (Elizabeth, Brenda, Diane, Jon and Maria) were ready to teach our students about gardening, and with their help our students filled 17 4 x 4 raised cedar beds with vegetables and herbs. The plants were so healthy and beautiful.
Our students planted basil, stevia, cilantro, parsley, tomatoes, eggplant, watermelon, pole beans and many more nutritious veggies. The students commented how excited they were to be planting their own school garden and how they were looking forward to tasting many different veggies, some for the first time.
Ms. Diane did a phenomenal job talking with our students and explaining the “Four E’s” of the Burpee Home Gardens “I Can Grow” program:
Education – Burpee encourages school gardening programs across the nation and because of this program West End IB World School now has a garden!
Eating better – The Burpee Team encouraged our students to try fresh veggies, to make healthy food choices and to learn more about how our food is produced.
Environment – Diane explained how our school garden is helping the environment by reducing our food’s carbon footprint, and
Economy – the students learned how vegetable gardens help save money. Our students are looking forward to eating our school-grown veggies in our cafeteria.
The goal of the Outdoor Classroom and Garden is to teach our students about the environment, sustainability, resource conservation and the importance of making healthy food choices, so that when our students enter their community, they will be responsible environmental stewards making a positive impact on their world. With our new garden, we are on our way to achieving this goal! ~ Julie Prince, West End IB World School
Check out the team excitement as students plant their school garden:
