May 2, 2008

School Scene

Pass the parsnips, please

By Holly Parker-Coney
Special to the Times

Something new and green and exciting is happening on Foxworthy Avenue in San Jose. More than one hundred preschool and kindergarten children from communities across Santa Clara Valley who attend One World Montessori School are growing tasty, healthy vegetables in their very own organic garden.

Recognized as one of the top 10 “green” schools in the United States, One World Montessori School is committed to the environment and offers a curriculum that, according to Head of School Rebecca Keith, “reveals to the students how all living beings are interdependent and how we rely on the earth to provide for all of our needs.”

Thanks to a grant from IBM and some hard work by a group of parents, these children now have a new organic garden that gives them hands-on, practical experience in planting, tending and harvesting vegetables. This connection with their own patch of earth helps the youngsters develop a love of their environment and a desire to care for it … and also gives them the opportunity to have fun working together while learning about the life cycle, from seedling to dinner plate, of a variety of healthy vegetables including beets, carrots, parsnips, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach and several kinds of beans.

“The garden supports our school’s commitment to the environment and offers children the opportunity for hands-on learning. IBM’s donation directly supports learning in these areas,” says Keith.

Because of this garden, the children are having fun outdoors while they learn how to work and play together. They have the joy of watching their efforts produce healthy veggies from tiny seeds.

In the years ahead, these children will have many educational experiences. Someday they may read e.e. cummings’ poem and reflect on memories of their wonderful garden “in Just spring when the world is mud-luscious (and) puddle-wonderful.”

Their personal experience in the One World Montessori garden will help them engage their own children in understanding their connection to the environment, for as a wise person once said, “If to plant a garden is to believe in the future, to plant a children’s garden is to believe in our children’s future.”