WUSA9 Coverage of WWS Garden & Goats
Last week WWS hosted goats from the Midatlantic Homestead Farm to prepare the school’s garden for the coming year.
The visit was covered by WUSA9 News.
The school and farm are developing a partnership where the school will expand their agricultural offerings and the farm will develop educational programs. In addition to clearing and fertilizing the garden, the students will have learning opportunities with the goats from social-emotional connections for our preschool students through seniors and their study of human ecology.
Through the school year, the garden is tended by students as part of the Grade 3 agriculture curriculum which is one aspect of a year-long holistic study of how humans have fed, sheltered, and clothed themselves throughout history. The curriculum is designed to meet the 8-9 year olds who are at a turning point in their awareness of themselves as individuals and their relationship to the greater world. The Grade 4 curriculum includes an in-depth study of animals and this program will also be a bridge for that class to stay connected to the garden they tended last year.
Jennifer Robinson, Lower School Gardening & Middle School Chemistry teacher, explained:
“The garden is overgrown and needs to be reclaimed. Bringing the goats to work with us is a way for the students to experience the possibilities and benefits of regenerative agriculture. The weeds feed the goats, the goats fertilize the soil before planting, and then the harvest feeds us. What a beautiful way to experience the relationship between all living things!”
More About the WWS Gardening Program
This year, WWS has expanded its Gardening Classes for students in Grades 1-4. Each class will have approximately 90 minutes of Gardening Class time with me and an assistant teacher each week. During those classes we will delve into seasonal tasks related to our pollinator garden spaces (which we are in the process of improving – join us for the native plant sale and planting day on October 4!) as well as our food and herb garden spaces which we are developing in partnership with the MidAtlantic Homestead farm.
But the garden spaces at WWS are not only for Grades 1-4! Students in 5th grade botany, 6th grade entomology, and earth sciences throughout the Upper School will benefit from engaging in these spaces and developing a relationship and a sense of responsibility for tending the earth we inhabit together. Students at all levels benefit from working in the gardens as it brings attention to observation skills, and develops the sense organs and the physical body in a thoughtful and rigorous manner. Students also experience a great deal of pride and joy at seeing their harvest turned into delicious food for the community to share, and Chef Eron is excited to support and benefit from our campus gardens too as a part of the Good Food Lunch program.