Tucson USD opens first early learning garden at Brichta Center

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – The Tucson Unified School District opened its first garden at a preschool.

At Brichta Infant and Early Learning Center, eight garden beds, fresh fruits and vegetables, and a couple of chickens are helping young learners grow.

Building a learning space

Moses Thompson runs the University of Arizona’s School Garden Workshop, which puts student gardening volunteers in schools. They have helped put gardens in 70 TUSD schools.

For this project, PNC Bank donated $50,000 as part of its Grow Up Great program.

Students said they were most excited when they saw the chickens.

Along with chickens, Brichta’s garden has 8 raised garden beds, flowers, and fresh tomatoes.

“They were red, and they were good,” students said.

Teaching responsibility and academics

Anna Trejo, Brichta’s Early Childhood Specialist, said students will learn “responsibility, growing, and taking care of other life.”

The Harvard School of Education said gardens also teach academic skills through hands-on, experiential learning.

“That’s where they set the academic foundations that follow them all the way through their lifespan,” Thompson said.

Terri Tellez-Baker sends her kids to Brichta because they explore things they can’t do at home.

“Life at home is chaotic, so the fact that we get to do this here and they get to have the gardens, and they have the beans the size of their head that they come running out – it’s just another level of excitement in education that they get to have,” Tellez-Baker said.

Brichta Infant and Early Learning Center is enrolling now for fall.

Isabela Lisco is a Report for America corps member covering education solutions for 13 News. Her position is made possible through funding from Report for America and the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.

Are you streaming 13 News?

Watch a free live stream of Tucson Now and 13 News at TucsonNow.Live.

Be sure to download the free Tucson Now app, which you can find on Apple and Google.

If you are using a desktop computer, you can use your mobile device to scan the QR code below.

Tucson Now QR code(13 News)

You can submit your breaking news or weather images he