Gardening program in Schenectady lets kids get their hands dirty
Getting kids to eat their vegetables can sometimes be a struggle, but a group of children from Schenectady not only liked eating them, but growing them as well.
Schenectady Inner City Ministry’s Edible Playgrounds offered children a chance to plant and grow fruit and vegetables at local parks in Schenectady from July 5 to Aug. 20. The three parks were Carrie Street Park, Wallingford Park in Mount Pleasant and Hillhurst Park in Bellevue. The gardening sites also served as locations for SICM’s Free Summer Lunch program.
The response has been very positive, said Janet Mattis, community outreach coordinator for SICM. `The kids love it because it gives the kids something to do. The parents like it, too, because the kids get to be taught without knowing they are doing something educational.`
The program focused on healthy foods, good eating habits and information about how plants grow. Summer interns helped with the hands-on activities for the 37 registered children.
`I think it is nice for the playgrounds to have some sort of structured activity for the kids to do,` said Mattis. `This seemed like a really good way to fight childhood obesity while making the parks safer for the kids to play in.`
Edible Playgrounds was based on the Roots and Wisdom program, which focused on gardening throughout parks in Schenectady.
Debbie Forester, facilitator for Edible Playgrounds, is one of the founding members of Roots and Wisdom, which started three summers ago at Orchard Field Park.
`We have kids learning things in a non-traditional way that hopefully enriches their lives,` said Forester.
The more positive opportunities there are, said Forester, the fewer chances for negative things to happen. She said it also provides the exercise children need but don’t always receive.
`We teach kids about good eating; we get them out being active and exercising,` said Forester. `It provides a counter to sitting in front of a video game and not doing things.`
While the fun started in the summer, Forester said during the school year they would work with schools to start plants in the classroom. The tied into what children were learning in the classroom. For instance, at each site there was a `three sisters` garden following the Native American tradition of growing corns, beans and squash.
Forester said in order for the program to be a success, the children needed youth role models.
`The interns really seem to enjoy it too,` said Mattis. `They had a lot of groundbreaking to do with starting this curriculum and program.`
SICM summer intern Abby Foster, 21, from the College of Saint Rose, was assigned to the Wallingford Park site.
`I like seeing the excitement of the kids to help in the garden and take the vegetables home and eat them,` said Foster.
Four to eight children would come to help in the garden each day, said Foster, who is an education major. Some children would show up randomly, but there were others who were regulars.
One of the children in the program, 12-year-old Philip, said he liked that the garden was available and he could pick stuff from it.
`It’s summer; we don’t really have anything else to do,` he said.
Over the course of the program, many children became attached to the interns, said Mattis.
`They tended to look up to the student interns running the program and the connected to them very early, so it was a positive experience for them,` said Mattis. `The kids, by the end of the program, were clinging to them and not wanting them to leave.`
Forester said it was sort of bittersweet when the program concluded on Friday, Aug. 20.
`The kids are kind of sad because today is the last day,` said Forester. `The kids look up to these teens since they have been there all summer, the interns have gotten to know some children in the neighborhoods.`
Funding for these types of program is always a challenge, said Forester, but SICM received a two-year grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation totaling more than $200,000 to assist in their efforts. The Edible Playgrounds program used around $15,000 from the grant this year, and it coincided with the Safe Parks initiative.
Mattis said she is not sure if the program will continue next year due to funding concerns.
`I would love to see this kind of program continue, because it had such great response and positive outcome for everyone involved,` said Mattis.“
