The Easterly Parkway Garden is a collaborative effort involving teachers, parents and, most important, students. (Photo of school garden by State College Magazine.) Students help plant, maintain and harvest, and some teachers have incorporated the garden into their curriculum. Last year, kindergartners played with worms and learned about composting; first and second graders participated in an apple-pruning demonstration; and third and fourth graders used power drills to build cold frames that sheltered early spring plantings.

 

 

The Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center's Sustainable Watersheds Program partnered with the Penn State Sustainability Institute this Spring for a rain garden installation at Easterly Parkway Elementary. According to an article on the project found here, "a rain garden is a depressed area with water-loving plants that help to soak up and filter runoff before going to a stream or into the water tables. A rain garden is useful in areas of ponding that collect excess runoff during a rain event." Community members, Penn State Students, and Easterly students and parents volunteered their time and effort for this volunteer planting.  (Rain Garden Photo Credit: Yunwen Wu, Landscape Architecture at Penn State)

 

 

Last year State College Area School District Food Services employees shredded enough zucchini from the Easterly school garden for 300 servings of zucchini bread that was served to Easterly students later in the school year. The plan is to use more of the school’s harvest in the cafeteria.

 

 

 

Whether it’s painting a new sign for our garden or lending a hand with the weeds, please let us know how you’d like to be involved. You don’t have to be an expert—we just want your enthusiasm and willingness to help. E-mail Bruce Hockenberry at bah12@scasd.org for more info.