VBSD to host Project Learning Garden installation at King Elementary School
Friday, March 31, 2017 10:09 am
The Van Buren School District, in cooperation with Dole Packaged Foods, Harps, and the Captain Planet Foundation, will celebrate the installation of King Elementary School’s new Project Learning Garden on April 12.
Dole Packaged Foods and Harps joined forces this year to donate the Learning Garden to the school as part of both companies’ commitments to educate children on the benefits of consuming more fruits and vegetables. The Project Learning Garden program provides a context for multidisciplinary learning, ranging from nutrition and science to social studies, math and language arts. Students benefit by expanding their palates, taste-testing healthy foods, and learning about food origins; engaging in authentic science field investigations; manipulating the environment to understand math in real-life applications; recreating historical activities; and writing across all these disciplines.
The event will begin at 9 a.m., as a pre-organized class participates in a PLG lesson in the garden. Media and dignitaries are welcome to watch and experience the learning activity. The installation ceremony will follow at 9:15 a.m. and will include comments from District administration, as well as leaders from Dole, Harps, and the Captain Planet Foundation. A number of regional legislators are also expected to be in attendance.
King Elementary School is currently one of two schools in the Van Buren School District participating in the FoodCorps program, which emphasizes nutrition education and healthy living across curriculum. The Project Learning Garden will further support the program by enabling students to grow more produce on campus and give faculty a hands-on teaching tool to integrate into their coursework.
After the ceremony, guests will have the chance to see students harvest vegetables from the garden and will enjoy a salad making demonstration from FoodCorps representative Mary Grace Stoneking, students and staff. A taste test will follow, along with the opportunity for additional questions and interviews.
King Elementary School is located at 411 North 20th Street in Van Buren. For more information, contact Drew Cone, VBSD Activities Administrator, at 479.474.7942.
