By Tyler Marr

Students show off their green thumbs

May 20, 2017 | 11:00 AM

Spades were in hand, wheelbarrows were loaded and dirt was piled high as students at Westview Community School dug into a growing initiative.

As part of the Little Green Thumbs program to promote Agriculture in the Classroom, students were expanding their indoor growing of snap peas, beans and carrots to outdoor garden boxes.

“It is really self-empowering for them to know that they can meet their needs through growing a garden,” kindergarten teacher Jeri McKelvie said as students and parents gathered to help build the outdoor boxes last week.

She said the program helps to promote resilience, build a connection to the land and parlay a stronger sense of understanding for where food originates.

The boxes will be home to vegetables like potatoes and beets to make soups and salads for students in the school.

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Self-sustainment of the garden was key for McKelvie, who said: “As more people take over…we are just passing on the knowledge from generation to generation.”

Ownership for tackling maintenance of the plants fell on the backs of students who had embraced the project with open arms.

For eight-year-old Jaxson Johnson – who heralded carrots and cucumbers as the best vegetables – the work was well worth it.

“It was hard but I was helping a friend build some boxes,” he said.

The outdoor expansion came thanks to a small $1,100 grant that has been stretched to accommodate all the needs for the project plus gift some plants for the students to take home.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr