Sulphur Springs students learn about gardening, nutrition | Sunday Stories

JONESBOROUGH — Fourth- and fifth-grade college students at Washington County’s Sulphur Springs School realized about gardening and vitamin within the fall of 2021 by means of a joint effort of East Tennessee State University’s College of Public Health and the UT Extension Washington County.

Project EARTH created a Garden in a Box program utilizing the “Learn, Grow, Eat and Go” curriculum that enables younger college students to develop greens whereas studying in regards to the significance of a well-balanced eating regimen.

“Many college students develop meals for the primary time and expertise new meals selections,” mentioned Dr. Mike Stoots, Project EARTH director of operations and professor within the ETSU Department of Community and Behavioral Health. “The children definitely appeared to take pleasure in this mission and realized issues that might enhance their well being for years to come back.”

The program not solely teaches the agricultural abilities of planting, tending and harvesting vegetation, but additionally dietary abilities, similar to the way to eat a balanced eating regimen and methods to organize the greens grown by means of the mission.

Christopher Honeycutt, a doctoral scholar within the ETSU College of Public Health working with Project EARTH, partnered with Washington County extension brokers Lucy Timbs and Adam Watson to deliver the Garden in a Box program to Sulphur Springs.

Four sq., raised backyard beds have been constructed on the varsity grounds by the group and college students on Aug. 26. Fall greens have been planted on Sept. 13 and harvested a few months later. The vegetation used within the mission have been donated by Onks Greenhouse and Garden Center in Gray.

Under the steerage of Timbs and Watson, fourth- and fifth-grade college students participated within the rising course of — from planting to reap of such fall crops as collard greens, cabbage and broccoli — as a part of their bodily schooling class taught by coaches Jill Fox and Brandon Qualls.

“It’s wonderful how the children may are available and check out issues they hadn’t tried — the cabbage, the kale or the collard greens that they hadn’t tried at residence — and have been amazed at how a lot they loved it and favored it,” Fox mentioned. “I favored seeing that facet of it, and seeing how straightforward it was to develop. Just realizing the way to develop it and choose it opens their eyes to one thing new. … They informed their buddies about what they realized, and their buddies wish to take part and expertise it as properly. It’s been a optimistic outreach for them. It’s been great.”

The Garden in a Box group hopes to not solely add extra raised beds at Sulphur Springs, however want to develop this system to different faculties sooner or later.