This year we were fortunate to have the opportunity to reach out to another community in Walworth County through the Campus Garden project.  A partnership opportunity arose this summer to work with Lakeland School in Elkhorn, WI when they expressed interest in establishing a school garden.  The school is conveniently located next to the Walworth County Community Garden and UW-Extension donated space to us to establish a garden space.

Lakeland School is an important resource  and integral part of the County’s Special Education system for the independent School Districts  within Walworth County.  Lakeland is the operational and administration heart of a model cost-efficient Special Education Program the County administrators for its rural, smaller sized school districts in harmony and cooperation with those individual school districts.

Starting a school garden is a challenge simply from the logistical needs of space, soil, plants, water, and other ingredients to a successful garden space.  Additionally, a school garden needs to be an interactive space where the children it serves feel comfortable learning more about garden plants and the value of fresh produce for nutritional outcomes.  The coordinator, or leader, of a school garden space not only needs to know how to keep the plants healthy and productive, but also needs to understand lesson planning and how to supervise educational activities through workshops and other experiential learning opportunities.

To lead our collaborative efforts with Lakeland, Erica Otto was the obvious choice in the Sustainability Office to lead this as part of her 2017 Nutrition Education internship.  Erica was our 2016 CHIP intern for the campus garden and has a background in community health education through her education at UW-Whitewater.  Her skills and interest in gardening made her a great choice to lead her own garden space and her education gave her the knowledge needed to help teach Lakeland students about gardening and nutrition topics.  Erica successfully engaged students from a wide range of ages and cognitive levels in her garden, which culminated in two final activities we will highlight here.

The Lakeland School students participated in a Garden Scavenger Hunt and Leaf Scavenger Hunt activity at the garden.  Mrs. McBride’s class was joined by special guests from Whitewater, including Wesley Enterline, Sustainability Coordinator at UW-Whitewater, Liesl Schultz-Hying, Garden Coordinator for W3, and Cher Woody, W3’s 2017 CHIP intern, as well as Mr. Conrardy, Lakeland School’s principal.  Erica Otto led the group as part of her Nutrition Education internship.

There were about 10 students in the class so each adult paired with a student and helped them go through the scavenger hunt questions.  The children drew different colors they saw in the garden, traced their steps from the weeds to the hose, and even looked for bugs!  After the Garden Scavenger Hunt, the children gathered together for a Leaf Scavenger Hunt activity.  During this leaf activity, they got to taste and smell some edible plants while learning the difference between edible and non-edible plants.  They explored different non-edible plants identifying them as waxy, fuzzy, and pointy.  The session ended with the children lightly touching the sensitive plant and watching as the leaves curled up to protect itself.

The children enjoyed the activities at the garden and learned a lot about what was growing.  This activity was able to engage many students at different comprehensive levels and gave them the opportunity to get creative and ask questions about the parts of the garden they enjoyed the most.  This was a great way to educate the students in a hands-on environment where they were free to get creative and messy.

The Lakeland school students wrapped up their summer session today with a pizza party celebration.  Larducci Pizzeria donated supplies and we incorporated fresh vegetables from the Lakeland School Garden and the UW-Whitewater Campus Garden.  There was thyme, basil, and oregano plants available for the children to pick the leaves and add to their pizzas.  Some of them were surprised to learn that they could use the fresh-picked leaves instead of buying seasoning at the store.  While they enjoyed assembling and eating the pizzas, their favorite part was rolling and tossing the dough up in the air to make their crusts. Each student got a chance to test out their skills and laugh together as they enjoyed their lunch.