Growth so important to students in this class

By Nancy Treder • May 20, 2022 1:30 am

In Meloni Courtway’s cooking class at Woodward Middle School, her seventh-graders are digging in and learning about gardening.

Last fall, her class cleaned up an abandoned garden that had been sitting idle near the portable buildings with nothing growing in it, except weeds. Courtway saw an opportunity for the kids to discover the connection between growing and cooking their own food.

“The students did all the work. I’m really delighted by their maturity and what they have accomplished out there,” Courtway said. The students cleared out the weeds, put down sheet mulch and compost and planted garlic. The garlic shoots standing tall in the garden are proof that their efforts took root, and the radishes, lettuce and other veggie starter plants recently transplanted are starting to take off, too.

Student Alder Malek said he likes seeing the plants grow from a tiny seed to a larger plant that’s doing really well. “It’s satisfying to care for them.”

Another student, Brittany Coleman, said: “I like to do the planting” and “going into the greenhouse each day to see how the plants react to the temperatures, the new soil. Everything makes a big difference.”

Student Maia Tappan appreciates the garden because she likes “getting outside to do hands-on stuff in the middle of the school day.”

And another student, Wini Dietrich, likes the calming effect of getting outside and being around nature. “Especially after you’ve had a hard morning.”

Courtway said the students enjoyed learning about the food cycle. “Once they understood that this food would be for them. They didn’t hesitate to jump in and start growing it.”

That morning, after doing some weeding and thinning of plants, the kids harvested, washed and tasted some fresh radishes. Later this month, Courtway will teach the kids how to make salads and dressings with the lettuces and vegetables from the garden to make the connections between food systems and culinary traditions. Courtway will be leaving Woodward at the end of the year to take a similar position at Bainbridge High School next fall where she hopes to start a hydroponics system.

Gardening is a subject that falls under the family consumer science curriculum, along with textiles and sewing, nutrition and budgeting, which gives students the chance to explore and take a small peek into each subject. “So, it felt like a natural fit to start growing food, so they could see where food came from,” their teacher said.