Lee Elementary School in Rossmoor has an outdoor science learning space: a school garden. All year long students plant, tend, and harvest vegetables and fruit while learning hands-on lessons about soil, insects, plant growth, harvesting and food preparation. These gardens have been in place for over 15 years and have gone through several restoration projects. The original beds were built by an Eagle Scout and funded by a grant from the “Garden in Every School” project. Most recently, following school modernization, the raised beds were reinstalled in a permanent area. The area was finished off by another Eagle Scout, who installed a fence and a decomposed granite ground cover. This designated outdoor learning space is tended primarily by second and third grade classrooms, but often visited by other students to observe and learn. Our aim is to teach students how easy it is to grow nutritious and delicious food in their own gardens. The biggest reward is of course, the beautiful harvests.
