Parkside students showcase edible garden project
On Monday morning Aug. 12, Parkside Preschool students at the School Age Center on E. 1st Street showcased the fruits of their labor in completing an edible educational garden expansion project.
The project was made possible by a grant from the WHOLE Kids Foundation. The goal of the project is to improve children’s nutrition and wellness with the goal of ending the childhood obesity epidemic. Grant funds were used to support an edible educational garden expansion project that will help children engage with fruits and vegetables, as well as achieving the goals of the school’s Wisconsin Youth Garden Assessment.
“We are so thrilled to have this opportunity,” adds Parkside Director Paula Koelsch.
“Without grant monies we would not be able to fund existing garden areas or expand the garden education experience for our students. We have been able to add many additional garden vegetables, fruit trees, a pollinator garden as well as pollinator attracting items, tools to care for the garden and a bird feeding station. Our curriculum followed the gardening season from soil preparation during the last week of May, planting seeds and plants, to final fall harvest and now garden clean up toward the end of September.”