School's lessons bursting with fruit flavor
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| SNP photo by Cassandra
Bergman Brookside Elementary School third-grade students (from left) Colin Calcote, Jacob Langston, Isaiah Wu, Katherine Poe and Brandon Sloma work on planting a fruit tree Monday, Sept. 8 at the school. Brookside now is home to 20 fruit trees and 30 berry bushes. |
* Brookside Elementary School's recently planted orchard is designed to teach science, stewardship of the earth, and even writing skills.
By PAMELA WILLIS
Brookside Elementary School's back yard got a little greener
this week as students picked up shovels to plant a fruit
tree orchard.
Principal Fritz Monroe said a dedication ceremony for the orchard took place Monday, Sept. 8 at the school, 6700 McVey Blvd., with Fruit Tree 101 educator Katherine Drotos and Rico Montenegro, a certified arborist and professional tree planter.
Monroe said 20 fruit trees and about 30 berry bushes were planted on school grounds, with most being planted Saturday, Sept. 6, and a few being planted during the dedication ceremony.
"We planted peach, apple, plum, multivariety, persimmon and pear trees, supplementing those with service berries, thornless blackberries, chokeberries and cranberry viburnum bushes," he said.
Drotos gave students facts about fruit and talked about nutrition and health, Monroe said.
"Our students are very knowledgeable about oxygen and the benefits we get from plants and trees -- how they take in carbon dioxide and provide cover and food for animals," he said.
FruitaBu, which sponsors the program Fruit Tree 101 with the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, provided fruit snacks for the students.
"They gave out fruit bars and fruit snacks and some interesting fruit-flavored lip gloss for the girls, which I didn't try," he said.
The joint program organizes fruit-tree planting at schools across the United States to help educate students about the importance of eating fruit and caring for the environment.
Monroe said the fruit orchard is a piece of the school's elementary renewal program, which follows a "Schoolyard Enhanced Learning" initiative, based on Herb Broda's book of the same title.
"The idea is to get the children out of the classroom and outside on school grounds to change their environment and keep them more excited about learning," Monroe said. "Getting them out and getting them involved in the environment helps to connect to the science and language arts standards, as students do a lot of writing about their experiences."
The school already has one apple tree on school grounds, which bore close to 200 apples this year, Monroe said.
"It's pretty magical to watch a youngster pick an apple for the first time, then eat it, as they make the connection that we get nutrition right from a plant," he said.
Students will help Monroe care for the trees, watering two or three times a week and learning more about "the responsibility and stewardship of the earth," he said.
The school also has an extensive butterfly garden and monarch butterfly raise-and-release program, along with outside learning activities around the Brookside pond.
For more information about FruitaBu, visit the Web site FruitaBu.com; for more information about the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, visit ftpf.org.
Principal Fritz Monroe said a dedication ceremony for the orchard took place Monday, Sept. 8 at the school, 6700 McVey Blvd., with Fruit Tree 101 educator Katherine Drotos and Rico Montenegro, a certified arborist and professional tree planter.
Monroe said 20 fruit trees and about 30 berry bushes were planted on school grounds, with most being planted Saturday, Sept. 6, and a few being planted during the dedication ceremony.
"We planted peach, apple, plum, multivariety, persimmon and pear trees, supplementing those with service berries, thornless blackberries, chokeberries and cranberry viburnum bushes," he said.
Drotos gave students facts about fruit and talked about nutrition and health, Monroe said.
"Our students are very knowledgeable about oxygen and the benefits we get from plants and trees -- how they take in carbon dioxide and provide cover and food for animals," he said.
FruitaBu, which sponsors the program Fruit Tree 101 with the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, provided fruit snacks for the students.
"They gave out fruit bars and fruit snacks and some interesting fruit-flavored lip gloss for the girls, which I didn't try," he said.
The joint program organizes fruit-tree planting at schools across the United States to help educate students about the importance of eating fruit and caring for the environment.
Monroe said the fruit orchard is a piece of the school's elementary renewal program, which follows a "Schoolyard Enhanced Learning" initiative, based on Herb Broda's book of the same title.
"The idea is to get the children out of the classroom and outside on school grounds to change their environment and keep them more excited about learning," Monroe said. "Getting them out and getting them involved in the environment helps to connect to the science and language arts standards, as students do a lot of writing about their experiences."
The school already has one apple tree on school grounds, which bore close to 200 apples this year, Monroe said.
"It's pretty magical to watch a youngster pick an apple for the first time, then eat it, as they make the connection that we get nutrition right from a plant," he said.
Students will help Monroe care for the trees, watering two or three times a week and learning more about "the responsibility and stewardship of the earth," he said.
The school also has an extensive butterfly garden and monarch butterfly raise-and-release program, along with outside learning activities around the Brookside pond.
For more information about FruitaBu, visit the Web site FruitaBu.com; for more information about the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, visit ftpf.org.
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