- J. Michael Conley Elementary School is working to revive the school garden.
- The school says the garden didn't make it through the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The school is collecting donations to bring it back to life.
- Watch the video to learn how a school garden teaches students lessons they can apply outside the classroom.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Studies show school gardens are known to teach students about the environment, nutrition, teamwork, and responsibility. I'm Kenya Cardonne in Southeast Tallahassee, where students in my neighborhood will soon be able to reap those benefits.. and could use your help too.
A scenic garden with countless lessons planted underneath the soil once stood here at J. Michael Conley Elementary School.
Brandy Vance, P.E. Teacher - "It was a really big, nice, beautiful garden. We had a butterfly garden and plants and everything.. and then COVID happened."
P.E. Teacher Brandy Vance says it's time to bring it back to life.
Vance - "Envision Credit Union has been so amazing. They donated all these new beds for us."
New beds, benches, a swinging chair, and a day of pulling out weeds— all part of a great start for a garden that will enhance the academic experience here, but it's just a start.
Vance - "Now we're probably going to need some help from the community."
Their hopes of having a spring crop means they need to revive the garden in the winter.
Here are a few things you can donate to make it happen:
- Garden beds
- Cardboard
- Mulch
- Soil
- Irrigation System
Poppy Schulze, Fifth Grader - "I like learning the different stages of the plants and how they start off from being little and grow big."
Poppy Schulze remembers the lessons she learned as a kindergartner when the garden was still around.
Schulze - "I was really sad when they took it apart because it was all beautiful and then turned not really that pretty."
Now a fifth grader, she says she's excited to get the hands-on experience again.
Vance - "Gardening is really trial and error."
Coach Vance says when students learn to garden, they learn about the importance of responsibility, teamwork, and patience — all skills that they will use outside the classroom and for the rest of their lives.
Vance - "A testament to the children that even if you do all the things that you think that you know to do correctly, it might not work out and that's okay."
To coordinate a donation for the school garden, reach out to Coach Vance at vanceb@leonschools.net
In Southeast Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne, ABC 27
