Grow A Salad

Funded Jul 4, 2013

Thank you so much for your generous donations and participation in our garden project. This project has affected these students for the rest of their lives. The students were so excited when we started to open up all of the equipment. They wanted to explore the tools and start right away. They were excited and talked about what they wanted to plant and how they were going to eat what we grow. We took a vote on the types of food that we were going to plant. One student said "I love tomatoes, I can eat all the tomatoes". Another student said "I plant food". Even one of my almost non-verbal students said "Eat, eat". They were all so excited about growing food to eat.

My students used the resources by exploring and utilizing the tools. They also enjoyed the gardening tools and learned what each of them is used for. They loved to get down and dirty in the dirt, and the excitement was so contagious. The other teachers and general education classrooms came over to ask my students about what they were doing. They were so proud and confident when they "taught" the older students about the tools and the garden boxes. These experiences gave them the confidence and opportunities to teach others. These opportunities are something that a lot of students with special needs do not always receive. Thank you for that once in a lifetime opportunity for all involved.

This project really helped me to expand the teaching of not only science and math concepts; but self help skills, language skills, and life skills to outside of the classroom. These hands on experiences really help give my students concrete opportunities to connect concepts to real life. This is especially important for students with special needs. The abundance of enrichment opportunities that I was able to derive from this project is still extending into the new school year. Thank you again for your support and giving me the opportunity to provide my Super Kids with these types of out of classroom, real world, hands on, LIFE CHANGING experiences. You have changed a child's world.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Harper