Contact: Kate Didden
Phone: 3048707279
E-mail: kadidden@frontiernet.net
County: Jefferson

Our Roots n Shoots intergenerational learning garden was begun in 2007. We have modeled some of our lessons and gardens after the Roots and Shoots program at Waddell Elementary School in Lexington, VA, whose handbooks were a tremendous help in getting our garden going. We use raise beds and have a garden for each grade. The kindergarten plants alphabet flowers. First grade grows a sunflower patch. Second grade does early spring veggies, third grade does summer vegetables and flowers, fourth has an herb garden, and 5th grade rotates among our other habitat areas: a butterfly garden, songbird thicket, and wetlands area. We also have a summer camp that uses the garden for two weeks in the summer. Our biggest challenge our first year was maintaining the garden over the summer...we have an awesome group of volunteers which really makes the garden work.

Number of Kids Involved: 360
Square Feet of Gardens: 1500

Grades Involved:

• K - 4

How our project is helping kids grow:
Our second grade teachers tell us that the garden is the only hands-on science their students get. We find the garden lets kids explore science and nature and use different intelligences, get outside more often, and taste new foods. Kids seem to be very content during garden lessons, it also seems to nurture their nurturing skills, they care about their seedlings, plants, and garden. We also feel we are breaking down some misconceptions and fears about bugs and dirt. Mostly, we have fun in the garden!

Gardening Contexts/Emphases:

• Outdoor, Vegetables
• Outdoor, Flowers
• Pond / Wetland
• Intergenerational
• Butterflies
• Composting

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

Number of Participating Teachers: 18

Number of Participating Parents / Volunteers: 24

Number of Parent / Volunteer Participation (hours/week/person): 3-4

Funding Sources:

• $ Donations
• In-Kind Donations
• Sales

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