Sam Houston Elementary teacher Shay Wynne and her students learn about plants in the HEAT garden classes.SUBMITTED
Students at Lebanon Special School District schools Coles Ferry, Byars Dowdy and Sam Houston are learning about growing flower and vegetables from seed until harvest.
Healthy Eating At the Table Nutrition is a program that provides classes to peoples and families who may have dietary restrictions or want to have healthier food options.
The HEAT gardens project is a partnership between LSSD and Vine Branch Fellowship.
The students grow leafy greens, tomatoes, carrots, turnips, peppers, herbs, green beans, radishes, squash, cucumbers, zucchini and flowers. The produce is harvested by the students and staff of the schools, as well as volunteers so it can be donated to local help centers and the senior center.
Volunteers include representatives from from UT/TSU Extension, Wilson County Master Gardeners, Wilson County Health Department, Lebanon Rotary Clubs and UnBoxed Lebanon, according to Alex Scott, the executive director of the program.
The students are taught how to garden through the entire garden-to-table process. That includes lessons about parts of a plant and how it develops and how to construct a garden with raised beds.
Byars Dowdy Elementary HEAT garden students learn about planting seeds.SUBMITTED
“While the gardens are a great addition to the schools, the lessons provided to the students about reducing chronic illness, choosing healthier food options and how they can have control over what they eat is invaluable,” Teacher Ronie McPeak, Coordinated School Health Coordinator, said. “Vine Branch Fellowship has done amazing work with starting and maintaining gardens in three of our five elementary schools. It is my hope that we continue to expand the efforts to have gardens at each of our schools and include students in classroom education to enhance the opportunities to learn about healthy eating and lifestyles.”
Students helping with the gardens includes Cooper Kirby, a fourth grader who was in the gardening group last year. He wrote “my favorite memory was we grew plants in our classroom from seeds and then got to plant them outside in our garden.”
Matt Alvarez, a third grader, said, “When we were harvesting vegetables it inspired me to make a garden at my home.”
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