In the Garden
Dexter students have many opportunities to get their hands dirty. The Farm to School Program has over 1500 square feet of gardening space at Creekside Intermediate School where students engage in daily Kitchen-Garden classes and an after school Garden Club.
Students involved in our program learn a variety of organic gardening skills, plant and soil biology, and composting lessons through project based learning activities. Students grow many varieties of vegetables and pollinators from seed and help tend the gardens in the spring, summer and fall.
The produce harvested from the school gardens is used for cooking lessons in our Kitchen-Garden classroom.
In the Kitchen
Dexter students work hard to turn their amazing harvests into delicious masterpieces in the Creekside Kitchen Classroom. Students learn basic kitchen skills, engage in nutrition lessons from the USDA Myplate and Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate while preparing healthy snacks and meals. We have lots of fun and our classes are always lively!
In the Greenhouse
Our growing season begins in March when we move the Kitchen-Garden classes to the Creekside greenhouse. During this 8 week time period students plant over 1500 vegetable and pollinator seeds while learning the basics of soil biology, plant physiology and the importance of pollinators through ecology.
During our greenhouse time, students also have the opportunity to grow many different varieties of microgreens that they sample in the kitchen classroom. We also make time for students to express themselves through art lessons and writing projects.
During the third weekend in May, we host our Annual Plant Sale Fundraiser in conjunction with Dexter Green Day. Any leftover plants become the foundation for our school gardens and also for students’ home gardens.
Change the food in schools and we can influence how children think. Change the curriculum and teach them how to garden and how to cook and we can show that growing food and cooking and eating together give last richness, meaning and beauty to our lives.
Alice Water, The Edible Schoolyard