Rev. Brett Watson stopped by Canora Junior Elementary School (CJES) on October 6 to accept the donation of produce from the CJES garden on behalf of the Filling the Gap Food Bank in Canora.
Watson said the garden project is an excellent teaching example for the students to get involved in helping out in the community.
“It’s phenomenal, we need all the help we can get at the food bank. This time of year it’s great for us to get garden produce, we then make sure we send it out the same week. With Christmas coming up, it looks like we’ll be doing 40 hampers, and we’ll be needing lots of support of all kinds at that time.”
The CJES garden began as a project that the CJES School Community Council (SCC) spearheaded in order to support the school’s Learning Improvement Plan goals, said Chris Ludba Danyluk, teacher.
Some of the goals include food education and nutrition, student well-being, and student advocacy. In its first year, the garden was named a soup garden because all of the ingredients for beet borscht soup were planted in the garden bins. Students planted and harvested all of the vegetables themselves.
Students enjoy spending time in the garden space and learning about how plants are grown, cared for, and harvested, said Ludba Danyluk. There are strong ties to the curriculum across all grades and teachers link this project to specific learning outcomes at their grade level. “Kindergarten students learn first-hand how to take care of plants and are able to see the changes in them as they grow. It gives them a hands-on learning opportunity and allows for an outdoor classroom experience. The Kindergarten students enjoy the time they spend in the garden and love to draw pictures of the many changes they see.”
In Grade 2 students learn about air and water which relates to the garden, and Grade 3 students study soil, as well as the growth and development of plants.
This year as part of their soil unit, they will be preparing the soil to improve it for next year’s crops, and will be starting some of the plants for the garden indoors in the science classroom.
Students are learning about nutrition and how to grow the food they eat, so this project can be linked to the health curriculum as well. This year the garden included potatoes, onions, cherry tomatoes, carrots, beets, and some flowers. The carrots and tomatoes are used for school snacks and the students take great pride in knowing they helped to grow the snacks they are eating, said Ludba Danyluk.
The garden project helps students to make a difference in their school and in their community. They feel competent and capable as they plant and harvest the garden, and they are becoming productive citizens of the community, after donating much of the garden produce to the Canora Filling the Gap Food Bank this year, said Ludba Danyluk.
“We are expanding the Garden Project, to be not only a place to grow food, but also an area that students may visit and enjoy during the day. Gardening can be very rewarding and improves student well-being when they are outdoors and in harmony with nature.”
The garden was made possible through the work of SCC members, volunteers, and through grants from TD bank, GSSD (Good Spirit School Division), Green Manitoba, and Sunrise Health Region. Contributing to the garden project through local donations of materials and/or labour were McMunn & Yates, McTavish Concrete, Ludba Construction, Wyonzek Bros Construction, Yorkton Concrete Products, Leson’s Funeral Home and K5 River Ranch. Canora Greenhouse also provided greenhouse tours and donated plants.
Any members of the community interested in partnering on the CJES Garden Project or the school nutrition initiative may contact Rod Steciuk or Chris Ludba Danyluk.
