School garden projects help students blossom
—Photo by LYNNE HALEY Michele Murphree, left, helps sixth-grader Tanner Thornhill, right, dump a load of topsoil.
—Photo by LYNNE HALEY Alex Liddiard, left, and Owan Sodewik, right, pitch in for the Sagle garden.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Volunteers from the Elks Lodge and Bonner County Gardeners Association put garden boxes together at Sagle Elementary.
-- Photo by Lynne Haley Volunteers staple metal screening on the bottom of the garden beds.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY BCGA president Gray Henderson measures the new Sagle Elementary garden plot.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY John and Becky Stone, Elk volunteers, help assemble cedar garden boxes.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY The arrival of the dump truck kicks off the second phase of the garden installation.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Volunteers assemble pre-built cedar panels to create garden boxes at Sagle Elementary.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Sagle sixth-graders gather around Gray Henderson, foreground, as he briefs them on the garden project.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Josh Cargill of Sagle Elementary shows off his shoveling technique.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Kevin Collins, left, joins a classmate and adult volunteers in filling new Sagle Elementary garden beds with soil.
SAGLE — Sixth-graders at Sagle Elementary took delivery of a dump truck full of topsoil Monday and made short work of filling the waiting garden beds to the rim. Thus, the latest garden project in Lake Pend Oreille School District elementary schools is officially installed and waiting for the students to decide what they will grow.
"I'll come to class on Friday to talk to them about soil and soil amendments. We'll start the planning process so the kids can help decide what, when and how to plant," said Gray Henderson, official liaison between the Bonner County Garden Association and the schools.
Michele Murphree initiated the Edible Schoolyard Garden Project in 2010 and has brought a garden to a new school each year. To date, every elementary school but one, Southside, has a project garden, including Forrest M. Byrd Charter School.
Early on, she organized a garden club at each school for those interested in growing food. Now, as the success of the program has grown, the schools have embraced gardening as part of their curricula. Children learn about cultivating their own fruits and vegetables, eating healthy foods and taking care of the earth, Murphree said.
Gardening also positively affects students' self-esteem, test scores, and their attitude toward school. Such projects also help make students more social while minimizing behavioral problems, according to several Virginia Tech studies.
An annual $2,000 grant from the local Elks Lodge No. 1376 pays for materials and supplies while BCGA provides the expertise. Area merchants, including Mountain Barn and Ranch Service, Sun Rental and Sandpoint Building Supply made in-kind donations, too, Murphree said.
The Sagle Elementary project began last Friday, with volunteers from the Elks and BCGA arriving on campus to assemble and set six cedar garden boxes in place. They added an automatic watering system to ensure plants stay hydrated over the summer.
The initial phase of the project concluded on Wednesday as sixth-grade students took up shovels and wheelbarrows alongside adult volunteers to distribute soil to the boxes.
The sixth-graders of Sagle will be actively involved in the project from here on out, and if enthusiasm is any indication, this latest schoolyard garden is already on course to thrive.