St. Croix Montessori School was recently awarded the $50,000 Sprint to Excellence Education Relief Grant from the St. Croix Foundation. The funds will be used primarily to support the school’s Edible Schoolyard and Summer Grow Program, which seeks to teach students about agriculture, healthy eating and sustainability, both inside and outside the classroom.
The program follows the teachings of Alice Waters, who founded the initial program in 1995 in California. St. Croix Montessori first reached out to former Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture, Errol Chichester, who worked alongside Rattan Montessori parent Jens Lawaetz to design a shade house appropriate for children ages 3 and up. Students and teachers then visited several local farms to learn about the agricultural industry and how to develop their own micro-farm.
In late February, the school hosted a morning gardening event, where parents and guardians were excited to join students in planting the seeds that will soon become their “edible schoolyard.”
In addition to funding the construction of the shade house, the purchasing of gardening materials and supplies, and providing for transportation, the grant also supports professional development for teachers and staff.
In April, St. Croix Montessori’s Director of Education Jean Bishop and VISTA volunteer Mackenzie Heffernan will attend the Growing School Gardens Summit in Colorado. There, they will learn from school garden experts about best practices for edible schoolyards, building sustainability, and promoting local agriculture as a practice and profession.
In June, all staff will also participate in a virtual edible schoolyard training program.
St. Croix Montessori would like to thank the many supporters and volunteers who helped make this dream a reality, including: the St. Croix Foundation; Mackenzie Heffernan, who also secured a $500 Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation Youth Grant; Errol Chichester; Jens Lawaetz; Kimani Boyea of Buddhoe Farms; Brian McCullough of VI Hydroponics; Kurt Lewis of Island Fresh Farm; Grantly Samuel of GLG Plants and Produce; Yvette Browne of Sejah Farms; Ms. Gibbs and Ms. White of the St. Croix Science Teachers Association; and so many others.
A microeconomy is one of the hallmarks of Montessori education, equipping students with vital life skills from a young age. As Maria Montessori famously said, “The secret of good teaching is to regard the child’s intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination.”
To stay up to date on St. Croix Montessori’s Edible Schoolyard and Summer Grown Program, visit www.StCroixMontessori.com and follow the school’s Facebook page.
For more information or to sign up as a volunteer, please email info@stxmontessori.com or call 718-2859.
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