Schools
College Park Students Growing ‘Healthy Hearts’
A Teaching Garden will shape kids' attitudes toward healthy eating habits according to the principal.
Pretty soon, broccoli-hating College Park Elementary School students will have nobody to blame but themselves.
Under a newly-launched San Mateo-Foster City School District initiative, the broccoli, along with the other veggies on their plates, will be the end result of their own work.
The program calls for students to learn to grow healthy eats in a College Park Teaching Garden based on American Heart Association science and nutrition guidelines, and gardening and education experts.
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A “Plant Day” celebration was held on Thursday featuring a performance by the school choir.
The event also featured a “produce market” where students selected a vegetable and a healthy recipe to take home. Special guests “Ticker,” the giant heart, and his “Produce Posse” friends were also on hand.
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District officials described the program as a learning laboratory, with students learning how to plant seeds, nurture growing plants, harvest crops and make the connection to good eating habits, a program combining nutrition education with garden-based learning.
Numerous studies have shown that participating in school garden programs improves students’ attitudes toward fruits and vegetables, district officials said.
“We are excited to combine hands-on garden learning with nutrition and science lessons,” Principal Diana Hallock said. “We are growing healthy hearts at College Park.”
