Rotarians visit Churchill School's garden club

In spite of cloudy skies, cool temperatures and light rain club members turned out to visit Churchill Elementary School’s garden club students who tend to both a floral memory garden in addition to a vegetable garden with the guidance of paraprofessional educator, Nancy Quintana.

 

Nancy educates her gardening students on the importance of and benefits derived from gardening and learning that food comes from more than just the grocery store.

 

Establishing gardening programs in schools helps children learn basic life skills, and can also supplement almost any of their classes. They practice their writing skills through observational journals, apply science knowledge as they watch plant life cycles, utilize math skills through measurements, and better understand history and other cultures through growing their own food. They can learn lessons in responsibility, communication, teamwork, and patience.

 

Following our outside gardens tour Schaumburg AM Rotarians joined students in the classroom as we potted up vegetable seedlings for them to take home. 

 

The highlight of our visit was seeing the sheer joy and delight on one of the student's faces as she helped pull and then proudly displayed a large round red crisp radish that was ready for harvest.  When asked what they enjoyed most about the garden some of the students replied that they liked pulling weeds!