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by Eliza Pandosh, Science Teacher

The SRV Organic Garden & Learning Center (SRV OGLC) located in the southeast corner of the school has been expanded and children and staff are hard at work creating the framework for their outdoor classroom. The garden is used as an integrating context for students bringing math, science and other subjects to life through hands-on applications. We will, for example, measure plant growth, plan the perimeters of plant beds, count inches when planting and learn which plants like to grow together. We have been exploring how agriculture has influenced our society and simultaneously learning about nutrition, the science behind plant growth, composting, cycles and much more. Through the use of garden logs students will track observations and data throughout the year to make predictions and help sustain the garden in the years to come. Currently students are learning the importance of hard work as we ready our garden for winter, make preparations for growing this spring and inform the SRV community about the importance of our compost system.

An outdoor classroom is comprised of more than plants. It encourages interest in the world around us, community involvement and an appreciation of the work and time it takes to produce the foods and materials we need for our daily survival. Students form hypotheses like "if this happens, the result will be that" and their conclusions are strengthened by observations. Best of all, the SRV OGLC is a sustainable outdoor classroom. There are many factors that can affect it, such as drought. However, even if we did experience a severe drought that prevented us from watering our garden and our plants died, the garden itself would still be a resource for exploration, observation and higher order thinking.

We want to thank you in advance for respecting this growing space. I hope you will feel free to look at and enjoy the garden's quiet magic from outside the fence. This is an outdoor classroom; it is our students' laboratory for learning. We ask that you do not enter unless an SRV teacher accompanies you, as there are student projects that are under way and should not be disturbed.

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