Contact: Kym Guntermann
Phone: 6022794596
E-mail: hguntermann@cox.net
County: Maricopa

Our program is in it's 4th year
I work as the garden coordinator from October to May when the weather is cooler here in Arizona. Fall, Winter and Spring is the best growing season here in Phoenix. Each class has their own garden, approximately 12'x12'. Students participate in every step of garden preparation, planting, watering and harvesting and of course eating. We compost, each class has a container for leftovers that is brought to the large compost tumblers. Last year we started a worm farm in an old ceramic bathtub. We have 2 chickens, a pair of ducks who had 12 ducklings last Spring and 2 very happy rabbits that live in our courtyard and roam freely outside their large pen until planting time. They are very tame and love the delicious vegetables we share with them throughout the year. Children work in small groups of 5-6. I cycle through the classroom so that each student works in the garden once a week to twice per month.I work approximately 15 hours a week and am paid by our PTA.

Number of Kids Involved: 225
Square Feet of Gardens: 728

Grades Involved:

• K - 4
• 5 - 8

We are interested in being E-Mail Pals and would like to exchange:
Garden photos, stories, seeds, fun ideas, garden art projects, grants

How our project is helping kids grow:
Our school is located in downtown Phoenix and Phoenix is located in the desert which has a very limited water supply due to low rainfall. Our program teaches that you can grow many things in desert climates. Teaches nutrition,introduces organic gardening through a completely hands on experience, composting, caring for animals and worm farming. City kids and desert dwelling kids are not really exposed to agriculture so this is a great opportunity to interact with the earth.

Gardening Contexts/Emphases:

• Outdoor, Vegetables
• Outdoor, Flowers
• Birds
• Greenhouse
• Vermiculture (worms)
• Composting

Level of Student Participation (hours/week/child): 1-2

Number of Participating Teachers: 8

Number of Participating Parents / Volunteers: 4

Number of Parent / Volunteer Participation (hours/week/person): 1-2

Funding Sources:

• $ Donations
• In-Kind Donations
• Grants
• Local
• National

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