MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. -- To learn and grow are two goals a school can have for its children throughout a year. For the Bedford Central School District, learning to grow food is an added part of the curriculum.
For the first time, each elementary school in the district will have a full scholastic year with its own garden, as the Mount Kisco Elementary School site was opened this past June. Mount Kisco was the last of the five elementary schools to receive a garden.
Filled with produce for the kids to learn about and work with, the Mount Kisco Elementary School Community Garden is for outside the classroom experience. This practice is not only for learning ways to grow food, but understanding the links between gardening and its place in history.
Every class goes out to the garden twice a month, and the Master Gardener instructs them and connects it to curriculum, said Nancy Colangelo, the elementary consulting teacher of Mount Kisco Elementary.
Through a $10,000 grant from the Bedford Garden Club, the school constructed the garden on an old tennis court right across the street from the main building. The money was good enough to build half of the structure, but the students enjoy it all the same.
One of our elementary students went home with a handful of radishes, and he came home with the biggest smile on his face, as if he was bringing home a pot of gold, said Colangelo. She said he was so proud of what he grew in the community garden.
The outdoor learning center is on its way to being built for Mount Kisco Elementary, which will be the newest addition to the garden.
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