Really, it's just so cool. When you think about public schooling, the first things that may come to mind are red tape, dysfunction, and Common Core confusion, thanks to repeated news coverage on those dramatic topics. But what is really happening inside of a lot of public schools are programs and initiatives that people have started, that get past that red tape, to work with whatever state and federal regulations that exist for the moment. Like the gardening program run by Hudson Valley Seed at each of the four elementary schools in Beacon, three elementary schools in Newburgh, and one elementary school in Garrison. This week at South Avenue Elementary School in Beacon, Hudson Valley Seed expanded the garden to add a gathering space for classes in the garden, a pollinator patch with flowers, and more growing space for vegetables. All of this with the help of a team from United Way. And you won't believe what kids get to do during their school days with this garden, which is explored in this article, in pictures!

Photo Credit: Hudson Valley Seed

About the Gardening Program for Beacon's Elementary Schools

Hudson Valley Seed educates children using school gardens, empowering students through curriculum-integrated lessons focused on healthy eating, food literacy, outdoor learning, and academic success.

Photo Credit: Hudson Valley Seed

Elementary schools in Beacon go from Pre-K to 6th Grade. In Hudson Valley Seed's program, 1st and 2nd Graders get weekly garden time, out in the garden during Spring and Fall, and in the classroom in Winter. Kindergarten, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grades also visit the garden and get indoor garden time three to six times throughout the school year. During garden time, kids taste and learn about the vegetable of the month, and the cafeteria serves it a few different ways throughout the month. The month culminates with a school-wide taste-test in the cafeteria, which allows students to vote on whether they like the dish or not. Parents are even sent home a recipe to try in their own kitchens. In March for St. Paddy's Day, parents got a flyer with a recipe for cabbage soup.

Photo Credit: Hudson Valley Seed

Vegetables grown in the gardens outside of the schools are woven into classroom curriculum. Like this worksheet, showing a monster vegetable made up of a tomato, turnip, cabbage, squash, kale, and string beans. Kids can name the creature and define its personality.

Photo Credit: Hudson Valley Seed

The New Garden at South Avenue Elementary School

At the beginning of Spring, after school each day for about a week, work began on the expanded garden. First was the delivery of mulch.

Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Next was plotting out the new beds and area for the fencing. Just days before, the new fence posts were in the bed of a parked truck of a Hudson Valley Seeder, and were stolen. A plea for help went out on a Facebook group that many in the Beacon community belong to, and after several people offered to donate to replace the fence posts, the stolen posts mysteriously reappeared. #soweirdbutgreat

Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Little did that thief know that a huge group of volunteers from the United Way and the local community was scheduled to come to install the fence posts. Thanks to the thief's change of heart, a lot of work commenced and the fencing was finished in a day. It was beginning to feel like a story pulled from the pages of a Nancy Drew Mystery.