Historical Summer 2017 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Students excited about Bibb lettuce, bok choy and Swiss chard may seem unlikely to parents of most elementary and middle school students. At St. Roch Catholic School, the students are excited about planting, harvesting and eating salads while learning about science thanks to some innovative teachers and a boost from local and national organizations. St. Roch’s participation in the Green St. Louis Machine started with an invitation from a parent to a science teacher at St. Roch. Parent Kasia Radecka asked Paul Shaver to attend a workshop at MatthewsDickey Boys Club with Stephen Ritz, a teacher and administrator from New York. Ritz started the Green Bronx Machine, an initiative that uses tower gardens to develop healthier, more engaged students in the South Bronx area of New York City. At the workshop, students served a soup and salad they made from the greens they grew using the tower gardens. Shaver was immediately intrigued. Shaver and Radecka applied for membership in the St. Louis Green Machine and received a grant that allowed the school to purchase three tower gardens for St. Roch. Tower gardens are vertical, aeroponic growing systems that allow users to grow up to 20 vegetables, herbs, fruits, and flowers in less than seven square feet of space either indoors or outside. St. Roch’s tower gardens are located inside the middle school. “The students are hooked.
It has really awakened an interest in science for many of them,” says Shaver.
The students are responsible for caring for the gardens.
They check the pH level, keep the water reservoir filled, and clean the tower.
They grow Bibb lettuce, Swiss chard, bok choy, basil, cilantro, parsley and other greens. About once a month they harvest and replant the tower.
After harvest, they try different recipes that incorporate what they’ve grown. Middle school students aren’t the only gardeners at St. Roch. Kindergarten teacher Mary Ann Duffy and Preschool teacher Jodi Rivers were selected to participate in the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Sprouting Science in the STL program.
This partnership helps early childhood educators find ways to safely and effectively incorporate outdoor learning experiences in their curriculum. Prior to joining the program, St. Roch already had begun to expand its outdoor learning space with the addition of garden boxes on the school grounds.
In the fall, Duffy used the boxes as part of her curriculum for teaching the five senses. Students planted lettuce, marigolds, and various spices to compare scents.
This spring, her students planted vegetables in the garden. Rivers had her preschool students plant lettuce seeds in ice cream cones that they then planted in the garden boxes. “Using ice cream cones allowed us to start planting indoors when the weather was colder so we would be ready to move them to the garden boxes when the weather improved,” says Rivers.
The cones also helped the preschool students with spacing the seeds in the garden boxes and seeing where to water.
The cones are biodegradable and eventually will vanish as the lettuce emerges.
As part of the program, the Botanical Garden is constructing a native garden on the St. Roch School grounds.
The teachers are in the process of identifying the best spot for the garden and looking through the plant catalogue provided by the Garden to select items for their garden.
They are also participating in the Sprouting Science Family Night at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
The program, which began in January, extends until May of 2018. St. Roch is the only archdiocesan school selected for the program. About 30 private and public schools from St. Louis and Illinois are participating. St. Roch Catholic School is located at 6040 Waterman Boulevard in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood.
The school serves children in preschool through eighth grades, with one classroom per grade and a total student population of 210 students. Students come from 22 different zip codes throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area and make up a diverse, dynamic, and dedicated student body. For more information, visit www.strochparish.com.
Original photograph caption
St. Roch pupils planting in a garden box.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, Summer 2017.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2017_06.pdf, printed page(s) 5; PDF page(s) 5.
