Great News From Bridgeport Public Schools

The mission of the Bridgeport Public Schools and its supporting community is to graduate all students "college ready" and

prepared to succeed in life.

In Other Great News...

 

 

 

Roosevelt School recently received a 2008 Youth Garden Grant from the National Gardening Association (NGA), based in South Burlington, VT.  The school’s award-winning youth gardening program, which was selected from more that 700 programs nationwide, will receive an assortment of books donated by the National Gardening Association and a $250 gift card from The Home Depot.

 

I believe that cultivated gardens and minds bring the assurance of the productive preservation and improvement of our neighborhoods, communities, cities, and world, strongly nurturing multicultural interactions and understandings of peaceful productivity for future generations,” Florence Pietrafesa, Roosevelt teacher,  said.  “All students deserve these opportunities and the National Garden Association Grant will help us continue these efforts.”

 

Roosevelt’s garden began in the spring of 2007 when Western Connecticut State University student Kaitlin Priest, elementary education major and daughter of 4th grade Roosevelt teacher Janice Priest, decided to propose the garden as project for her horticulture class. Roosevelt Principal Carmen Perez-Dickson readily accepted the proposal, and Emily Cicale, Physical Education teacher, served as the project coordinator. The project has engaged 100 students in grades preK-8 along with their parents, siblings, teachers, and staff members.  Roosevelt’s Responsible Rockers Kids Care Club, an environmentally friendly extracurricular group, have collaborated to kick off this year sprouting garden under the direction of club co-facilitators Donna Vitulano, social worker; Florence S. Pietrafesa, 6th grade Special Education teacher; Suzanne Vause, guidance counselor; and Pat Claxto n, school nurse.

 

Roosevelt began the 2007-08 school year by planting bulbs for the spring and winterizing the garden.  The Kids Care Club and the 6th grade students were the first to begin the process by cultivating seeds in the Parent Center.  This year, student also decided to plant vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, green beans, cucumbers and cinnamon basil seeds. All cultivation has been performed inside to prepare the plants for warmer weather.  The basil seeds are of particular interest to the students because NASA supplied them.  Some of the basil seeds were exposed to outer space while others are earth based and serve as the control group.  The students are eager to see what will happen to both groups of seed and whether they will all  will produce healthy young plants to be transplanted into the garden.

 

“The garden's interesting educational strategy links to the curriculum and encourages urban youth to be motivated to ask questions.  They make more informed judgments about personal and social issues,” said Michele Bonney-Gee, Assistant Principal. “Our goal is that even more of our school's population will help cultivate our land, and their lives, yearly.”

 

The NGA and The Home Depot awarded 2008 Youth Garden Grants to 150 outstanding school and community projects that engage youths as learners, explorers, leaders and nurturers in outdoor garden setting.

 

The National Gardening Association (NGA), founded in 1973, is a nonprofit organization for plant-based education. It serves a national audience with timely materials designed to foster an appreciation for the benefits of gardening.  To learn more about the 2008 Youth Garden Grants or for more information about the NGA, please visit www.kidsgardening.org.