Nichole Lupo

When I was a child, I eagerly anticipated the start of school.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the freedom and activities of summer—staying up later, swimming, climbing trees, exploring the creeks and woods around my house, working in the garden with my dad, summer book club (yes, I was what some would consider kinda nerdy!)—but there was something equally exciting about the thought of what was to come in the school year ahead. I loved purchasing new notebooks and school supplies, getting my backpack loaded and ready, and meeting my new teacher.

I find that as an educator, I still look to the coming school year with the same excitement and anticipation—it’s just different things that I now anticipate. Seeing returning students and meeting new ones, harvesting the fruits and vegetables of summer and eating them with our students, gathering and organizing seeds and seedlings for fall planting, and working with teachers and parents to fully incorporate the garden into the school lives of all.

I get so excited by all the possibilities, the teachable moments, that present themselves when working with food. In the garden, kids are naturally curious and question everything from the insects they see to how everything we do as humans has an impact on the natural world. When we harvest, the students examine the food, marvel at the root structures of the plants, and comment on the soil and endless weeds. In the classroom, they vie for the opportunity to help in any way that gets their hands on the food and gets the food in their mouths more quickly. Anyone who thinks that kids don’t get excited about vegetables has never worked with them from planting to tasting. In fact, I’m not sure who gets more excited…..the students or me!

And so begins another school year, and we taste the sweet watermelon that has been growing and ripening and waiting for us all summer, and we know, without a doubt, that it’s going to be a great year!

This entry was posted on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 11:24 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.