Winchester School Garden p.2
The preschool always plants peas, early enough so they can give them to the families at preschool graduation.
The first grade plants potatoes in the spring, then harvests them as second-graders in the fall.
Third grade has grown some big cabbages!
Fourth grade does a big unit on Native Americans; they planted the Three Sisters garden (corn, beans, squash).
Fifth grade planted “really funky gourds” and did a whole math lesson on measuring them and their growth.
The life skills prgram for cognitively delayed students cooks once a week, using graden produce with great results. Special educator Jane Cardinale chairs the Garden Committee, so the 30% of the school in Special Ed uses the garden a lot. “And that’s been really successful,” she says.
Pat Dorcas uses the garden for seventh-grade science, and does hyrdoponic gardening in his classes and the greenhouse. He teaches about food miles, asking students where their food comes from and how much energy it takes.
