RBF and Pocantico Hills Central School Partner to Create an Edible Schoolyard
NEW YORK, NY (June 26, 2008) -Thomas Elliott, superintendent of Pocantico Hills Central School, New York, announced that students could soon be eating salad and soup from vegetables that they will grow in an organic school garden located on the neighboring Rockefeller estate in Pocantico. The Rockefeller family has a long history of supporting environmental sustainability initiatives worldwide, as well as in their own backyard. The pilot project, which kicks off in September, will involve third and fourth grade students.
"The school garden is a natural extension of the Pocantico Programs of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund which participates in other local partnerships with organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Historic Hudson Valley," said Charles Granquist, Executive Director of Pocantico Programs.
In July, the Pocantico Hills teachers will participate in training sessions with Denise Martabano, the Health, Wellness and Sustainability Coach for the Katonah-Lewisboro school district. They will learn about organic gardening techniques together with the garden's varied applications for curriculum. Students will work in the garden weekly, managing it year round. In order to maintain the year-round garden, students will utilize outdoor beds, a greenhouse, and cold frames. They plan to produce three harvests in conjunction with three annual events to feed the entire school with organic crops grown in the school garden. Additional partners for the project will include the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES.
The Pocantico garden complements the efforts by Westchester schools to create curriculum that integrates sustainability concepts into everyday teaching. Using a global framework and an interdisciplinary approach, curriculums are being developed in math, social studies, English and the arts that are unified under the overarching principle of environmental sustainability. These subjects come alive for the students in an edible classroom.
The first edible classroom was created by noted American chef, Alice Waters, in Berkeley, California. In her urban program, students planted, prepared, served, and ate homegrown food in order to appreciate the earth and healthy eating habits. The school garden at Pocantico will be mentored by Martabano, who says, "when kids grow their food, they own it, and they want to eat it."
For more information, contact: Gail L. Fuller, 212-812-4242 or gfuller@rbf.org.