Holden Christian AcademyFood for Life

Once upon a time there was a very nice school named Holden Christian Academy.

The principal and teachers wanted to help the students make healthy choices in their lives and be good

stewards of all God’s gifts, including their own bodies.

Then they would be able to say

“YES”

to anything God has planned for them to do.

They came up with a wonderful idea.

They said, “Let’s have a

Food for Life Program!

It would have three parts.”

1. Gardening

2. Nutrition

3. Fitness

About the same time, a friend named Olga was visiting from Belarus. She works with orphans and wanted to help them grow more vegetables for the

winter. She asked HCA for help!

We took Olga to Heaven’s Harvest Farm to get some help from Mr. Howard.

We decided to try some of his ideas at HCA.

Someday soon we want to send students to Belarus

to take the best solutions to the orphans.

Our Plan

We decided to start a school garden and

learn how to grow our own food.

We wanted to research and test ways to prolong the growing season

and conserve heat without using electricity.

Some possibilities included:

• a hoop house

• a cold frame

• a green house

We wanted to learn about harvesting, preparing, and preserving our own food in

the most nutritious ways possible!

Our Action PlanFirst HCA had a parent meeting to determine the

interest level of parents and ask for their help.

A local expert who runs school gardens in towns nearby spoke to all the parents. Everyone was

excited to begin!

Then we did (and continue to do) research!

We visited local schools with gardens and spoke to

the educators in charge.

Quabbin Regional High School

Barre, MA.

We conducted in-service training with Karrie Kalick, author of Early Sprouts.

We attended Mass. Agriculture in the Classroom’s conferences and summer graduate course!

We read, read, and continue to read!

And visited wonderful resources

Ellen Sousa’s farm in Spencer Ma.

Ellen is the author of The Green Garden .

Two of our favorite books are

Our Principal visited the

Edible School Yard at the

MLK Middle School

in Berkeley, CA.

And the Life Lab in Santa Cruz, CA.

Both venues had helpful signs for on-the-spot learning.

They each had outdoor classroom space as well. This gave us ideas!

We started to plan the school garden.

The students presented all their best ideas to the teachers

and each other. Together we decided on a plan that

had something for everyone!

The staff made a giant garden map on a shower curtain so everyone could plan.

We chose a beautiful mosaic designwith four large squares for rambling

plants.

In May of 2010, we picked the

perfect place on our playground

and volunteers excavated it.

During school hours we cut and stained the lumber. On a Saturday families & friends constructed the raised

beds.

We placed the boxes.

And put on the finishing touches.

When the beds were complete the whole school filled

them with beautiful, rich compost.

Each grade planted a variety of edible plants (fruit, vegetables, herbs) and flowers.

Our plants and seeds came from a variety of sources:

• Donated perennials divisions• Donated seeds/plants• Area nurseries- “stragglers”• Classroom seed germination• Local farm donations• Purchased seeds (OSJL) and later Johnny’s Seeds

The garden grew…and grew…and grew!!

HCA Garden Expenditures 2010

• Construction • Lumber 609.50• Hardware cloth 8.86• Stain & staining supplies 214.73• Weed-block fabric 59.70• Weed-block fabric 20.00• Loam 300.00• 285.50• Loam & Pea stone 518.00• Labor & materials 310.83• L brackets 131.24• 2457.29• Equipment• Hose & shovels 38.78• Hose guard, watering can 8.00 • Shovels 67.45• Hose & seeds 109.20• Hoses, sprinklers, seeds 66.00• 289.43• Structures• Gazebo & tools 143.42• Bridges 84.98• Stepping stones 77.76• Benches 212.37• Birdbath 201.00• 717.53

• Grand total so far for garden $3466.25 June 2010

We were given great deals for supplies from

local merchants.

The major funds for the project came from

a generous private grant.

On Fine Arts Day we made mosaic stepping stones.

We had a summer Garden Club.

and a cooking show called HCA Gourmet.

In the Spring of 2012 we added a little green house.

During the fall of 2012 we built an outdoor classroom.

Mr.Chip & other volunteers

Mr. Chip & friends~all volunteers!

It’s right next to the garden!

Even our students got into the action…

All done!The art on the front was designed by a student,

and created by our art teacher.

The awesome bench/desks were purchased with funds from a grant provided by Mass. Ag. In the

Classroom!Thank you MAC!

Oh….no

Although the teachers were very excited about the program, sometimes they had a hard time fitting the Food for Life activities into their busy schedules.

BummerThey decided that there must be a way to fit it naturally into HCA’s four year curriculum cycle.

We are now in the beginning of a four year school-wide project to learn to integrate Food for

Lifeinto the very heart of HCA.

We will know we’ve succeeded when

1. we send students to Belarus & make a positive difference in the gardens, diets, and lives of our

orphan friends.

2. we have implemented and documented our methods of natural integration into every subject

and can share that with other schools.

And most of all

3. When the principal, teachers, and students make healthy choices in their lives and become good stewards of all God’s gifts, including their own bodies.

Then they would be able to say

“YES”

to anything God has planned for them to do.

The End

is really just the beginning!

Planning Your School GardenGardens for Learning ~ California School Network www.csgn.org

1. Seeking Administrative Support2. Creating a Support Network (teachers, maintenance staff,

food services staff, students, parents, community volunteers)

3. Identifying Goals & Linking the Garden to Your Curriculum

4. Designing the Garden

5. Identifying Supply Needs and Funding Needs

6. Obtaining Supplies and Funds

7. Planting the Garden

8. Maintaining the Garden

9. Sustaining the Garden

Year One~ Our Heritage

Year Two~ Change(American History Pt. 2)

They re-enacted the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893

Year Three~ Civilizations

Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome

Medieval

Renaissance & Reformation

Year Four~CulturesAsian, Middle Eastern, African, South American

Back to the problem…..

We decided to work on the integration during the summer when we had a chance to really think. The staff is working together and….

the principal and the first grade teacher took a graduate course to help us get started!

Here are our results!

Holden Christian AcademyFood for Life Concept Statements

 God made everything according to His perfect, intentional design.

He made people in His image and wants us to be good stewards of His creation. God gives us strengths to serve Him by doing the work He prepared for us to do. ( They benefit ourselves and others by sharing them in community.) Because of sin in the world we all have troubles and weaknesses. They remind us of

our need for God and community. God created the world to work as an integrated whole. Nothing can live in isolation. Living things need air, food, water, shelter and community in order to survive.

God designed all these needs to be met through intricate systems and cycles.

Understanding and appreciating the interrelationships and connectedness of all aspects of God’s design will help us

– be better stewards of His creation, – make healthy personal choices and – do our part to leave the world in good shape for future generations.