Earthy Hands, Healthy Minds, Growing Community

Students at Barriere Elementary have continued to dig in and connect with where their food comes from. Apart from growing their knowledge of how to plan a garden plot, care for seedlings so they produce a crop, and harvesting the final product, students are making valuable connections with their community.  From donating produce to the local food bank, to planning meals for classroom events,  sharing fresh vegetables through our lunch program, and working with local volunteers to care for the community garden, students are gaining a sense of pride connected to their accomplishments and learning.

With each passing year, students are applying their experience to plan and plant a garden that can be fully utilized come harvest season and learning what crops are better suited for consumption.  Students baked pies in the fall using excess fruit harvested from the community which would otherwise have gone to waste. The pies were then sold with funds raised donated back to community garden and local food bank.

This year students are planning to “grow a row” of produce that when harvested is donated to both the local Barriere food bank, but also the Kamloops area food bank.  A Fall Harvest Feast is also in the design phase with the hope to bring students, community and the commitment to environment and ecological sustainable practices together in celebration.  With the roots firmly planted, students at Barriere Elementary are making a difference learning, sharing and promoting healthy lifestyle choices connected to community,  stewardship and actionable practices. Future plans for next year include working with the Simpwc First Nation to learn about local plants, both medicinal and edible, and then design and plant an ethnobotany garden by the school’s new outdoor classroom scheduled for completion this summer.

Where it all begins…