 Since
the beginning of the school year I had known of Mrs. Krone’s class participating
in several projects that involved the class using our school gardens as
a resource, but I was not fully aware of just how extensive the preparations
were as Fall Harvest Week approached at the end of October. Then
one day I received a poster page sized invitation to a Fall Harvest Feast
that had been composed as part of a shared writing activity by the class.
I accepted the invitation, of course.
I arrived at the appointed time to find that several of the other
adult guests had already made their way to the party ahead of me.
I was greeted by two girls who were assigned to play hostess to me during
my time in their room. Each of the other adults also had their own
hosts and hostesses. The guests included the manager of the Hilton
Garden Inn (one of our business partners and key sponsors of several of
our garden projects), Roberta Paolo (a.k.a. “Granny”) was also there, as
was Mrs. Murphy (one of the school secretaries) and a parent.
 I
took my seat at one of the table groups. A place mat had been made
just for me (the border of the place mat was a design that created a pattern.This
was an authentic project as part of the class’ work learning about and
creating patterns as part of their math class). A water bottle filled
with fresh cut flowers from the garden was placed on my desk. The
appointed servers made sure that my plate was full of at least a little
bit of each of the many dishes that had been prepared for this auspicious
occasion. The sweet potato pone was among my favorite prepared dishes,
although my favorite thing of all was the delicious fresh carrots that
had been pulled straight out of the school garden the day before.
They tasted so fresh and full of earthy goodness! There was also
vegetable soup, fruit salad, pumpkin bread, pickled beets, carrot cake
cupcakes and homemade butter. This all ran together as one special
treat of fresh and homemade delicious goodness.
 The
atmosphere in the class was definitely festive. It was fun to see
the children as they took a more formal approach to their lunchtime, as
such an occasion certainly called for. However, they were obviously
having fun enjoying the bounty of their harvest that they had worked so
hard to plant, pick and prepare. They also seemed to relish the roles
that had been assigned to each of them in order to help the mealtime go
more smoothly and to make all guests feel not only welcome, but pampered.
We all knew we were participating in something special that day.
I enjoyed this meal together with these children and their teacher
much more so as a person connecting with other fun and interesting people
than I did as a proud principal watching his students swell with pride
because of their hard work and accomplishments. But the latter sunk
in more after I left. As I returned to my school duties and routines,
I remained energized by the exemplary cross-curricular project that had
come to fruition right before my eyes. It took about six months from
start to finish, but the amount and types of learning done by the students
not only surpassed any expectations I would have for a class involved with
our garden program, but this even went so far as to qualify as a worthwhile
life experience. One that I am certain will stay with the students
as they grow, and one that I hope will shape their attitudes and beliefs
about taking pride in one's work, about respecting the earth and what it
provides us all, and even about hosting guests for a meal. |
