School Gardens Sprout in Norwalk

Pass the cucumbers! Before long, students at Norwalk schools will be able to eat freshly grown salads made from vegetables grown right outside their classrooms. Edible gardens are popping up at schools throughout the district as part of "Norwalk Grows," a new districtwide initiative. "The gardens are good for kids," Norwalk High junior Anna Massaro said as she piled dirt in a garden bed. "It will help them to eat right." 

The project is a partnership of the school district, Norwalk Children’s Foundation and many local corporations. “This is such a positive way that the schools and community are coming together,” Superintendent Susan Marks said at a groundbreaking for the Jefferson Elementary School garden Monday morning.

Employees from General Electric’s Asian Pacific American Forum, a diversity group, spent the day away from their cubicles. At Jefferson, they pulled weeds, replanted trees and prepared a triangular patch of land behind the school for garden beds.

Gardens were planted in the fall at Brien McMahon High School and Rowayton Elementary School.  “The goal is to have gardens at all 19 schools,” said Carol Marinaccio, Norwalk director of elementary education and a key organizer of the initiative. “Our gardens are unique because they’re for pre-k through 12th grade.” Nine gardens are being planted in the first phase of the project. The team will be installing five gardens this month and two more in September. A second round of gardens will be planted next year.

A special “mentor garden” was planted behind Naramake Elementary School last Friday. Neighboring Norwalk High and Nathan Hale students share the large garden, which has a dozen beds. “We plan for the older kids to be working with the younger kids,” said Anthony Alison, program director at the Norwalk Children’s Foundation.

Employees from Tauck World of Giving constructed garden beds while scores of Norwalk High student used wheelbarrows to fill them with fresh dirt.

The garden can be incorporated into the high school curriculum in countless ways, said Mary Verel, moderator of Norwalk High’s Earth club. “In chemistry, the kids can do soil analyses. In AP bio, they can study plants and botany. Business students can create business plans for farmers markets. Of course, there’s culinary arts,” says Verel, a guidance counselor whose passion is the environment.  “The mentoring relationship with Naramake student will be special.”

Jefferson principal John Reynolds agreed the gardens can be used in many ways, especially at his school, which is science magnet school. “Experiential learning is so important for kids, and we try and build into the school as many ways as we can,” said Reynolds. “The garden also complements our nutrition program, which is all about healthy eating.”

Lisa Lenskold, horticultural advisor for the project and a parent, said, “If kids understand where their food is coming from, they’ll be more likely to eat it.” 

Do you have a garden? Does your child help out?

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