• April 22, 2010:  Desmares School breaks ground for new garden!
     
    shovelThe Desmares School community will work together to grow, cultivate and harvest a garden on school property. The purpose of the garden is to promote healthy food choices, provide a community resource and engage students in hands-on learning.
     
    On Earth Day (April 22), Desmares students joined  together to take part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the garden as part of a school assembly. During the remainder of the spring, the school will excavate the land and will test and prepare the soil. A fence will be installed during the summer and planting is expected to begin this coming fall. Learning opportunities may begin as early as the start of the 2010-2011 school year.

    gardenIn partnership with America's Grow-a-Row, the Rutgers Agricultural Research Farm and Rutgers Cooperative Extension, Desmares School will fund the garden project through its partners' assistance and a Healthy Community Development mini grant from the NJ Dept. of Health & Senior Services in cooperation with the NJ Council on Physical Fitness adn Sports. The focus of the grant is policy and environmental change.

    The garden will support many units outlined in the district's science curriculum:
    • Kindergarten: Seasons, Earth/Recycling, Nutrition
    • 1st Grade: Insects, Plants and Seeds, Rocks and Soil, Scientist Unit
    • 2nd Grade: Scientist Unit, Weather
    • 3rd Grade: Ecosystems
    • 4th Grade: Ecosystems, Weather, Worm Bins.
    forkHealth curriculum topics will include:
    • Kindergarten: Understanding the importance of eating healthy.
    • 1st Grade: Discuss how to make healthy food choices.
    • 2nd Grade: Recognize the foods found in the pyramid and choose foods that are healthy to eat.
    • 3rd Grade: Strategies to improve or maintain a level of wellness by choosing proper nutrition.
    • 4th Grade: Setting goals.

    The garden will also promote connections among our community. In fact, vegetables harvested from the garden during the school year will be offered in the school’s cafeteria. Maschio’s Food Service, our food vendor, is part of the Farm to School Program. In addition, vegetables harvested during the summer will be donated to the Flemington Area Food Pantry and Hunterdon Hispanos.

    Click here to view a presentation about the Desmares Community Garden: https://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/cms/lib/NJ01001104/Centricity/Domain/4/_files/Desmares-garden.pdf.
Last Modified on October 7, 2010