001I am the garden chair here with the Central Kitsap Montessori Parents Association. And we fund the garden program out here. I believe the garden was started by Kathy Beckstrom. She's a former Montessori teacher here at the school. And it started with just 1 or 2 garden boxes. And students would come out here and work on, you know, starting a garden from seed to harvest. And that that's what we continue to do out here today, except we have 6 garden boxes now, 1 for each class. And, they get to grow things at the beginning of the, the spring and up until the summer. And then when the students come in at the beginning of a new school year, they get to see the garden at its peak, and really enjoy the, the harvest. And then we
002have to do the work you know, and close everything down again for the season. I like going to the garden because I just when I plant the plant, it makes me feel like I'm having something been born and stuff. It's like like when I plant it. I know that it's going to grow and it will being like living and stuff and like, I'm like, making something live and that makes me feel happy. When students come out here I want them to really connect with their food and to understand that food doesn't just come from the grocery store or out of the bag, or out of a box, that it does take some time and some effort, and seeing it grow from seed all the way up to the harvest, students see the whole life cycle
003of the plant, and they learn from the fact that, you know, they were able to do it themselves, and they tend to appreciate their food a little bit more. They might also be more inclined to try some new things and even try vegetable gardening for themselves. If I've ran out of like, energy, like stuff happens at school the garden. Helps all that energy come back. We use this as like an extension of the classroom, and I try to make sure that students understand there are some rules when we come out here and garden and that we want to use this as a learning opportunity. But so much about it is also just getting that opportunity for them to learn and explore for themselves and ask the right questions and just find the interests, the spark
004that drives them to want to learn more.