Berlin-Boylston will have a 'fresh' take on school lunch when students return

BOYLSTON — Curriculum and school lunch will coalesce when students of the Berlin/Boylston Tahanto District return to school later this month. The district's food services department will continue a program that came to fruition late in the school year: preparing and serving fresh vegetables from student-tended gardens.

The program began last winter, when the district installed four raised garden beds at each of the three schools, Superintendent Nadine Ekstrom said.

Curriculum Coordinator Carol Bradley described the new program as a "dream, started on faith."

The dream was to create a curriculum-based garden in the three schools, build awareness and, hopefully, start to draw in community volunteers. Instead, she noted, volunteers made their presence known immediately.

"They just jumped right in," Costello said. "And that has been the spirit of the community ever since. We've been able to put this community project together in the most beautiful way."

Among the plants were snow peas, kale, spinach, basil and lettuce, which had grown enough to be harvested and included in lunches at Tahanto during the final week of school, according to Berlin-Boylston Food Services Director Maryellen Fryburg.

Seedlings and small plants were started in classrooms in each of the three schools, as part of science and health curriculums. Those plants were later transferred to the gardens, where students regularly tended to their watering and weeding requirements.

"My eighth-graders raised the plants from seeds in the classroom — seeds and supplies all donated," teacher Kim Dufresne said. "Eighth-graders brought in clear plastic egg crates from home to serve as pots/greenhouses for seeds, and then planted the seedlings last month in the four raised beds."

Over the summer, the gardens have been tended by a group of volunteers which included school staff, parents and students. All of the vegetables will be used in school lunches. What is not harvested for use right away, will be canned for later use, Fryburg said.

The program has another benefit too, There is the hope that more school lunches will be taken and eaten.

Nationwide, there has been student resistance to new federal standards that restrict what schools can serve, and require that more fruits and vegetables are part of school lunches.

"We have all these new standards and we thought this could be a way to get the kids to try things," Fryburg said. "They may actually want to try them if they helped grow them."

As time moves on, Ekstrom said she hopes to capitalize on early support the gardens have received in each of the schools. Ultimately, she said the would like to see permanent groups at each school helping to tend the gardens.

"We're looking to see this grow and evolve," she said. "There is nothing negative about this. It's all positive."

For students, the curriculum will evolve over time. In the elementary schools, the idea is to make the children aware of how the food supply works, and that people can play a role in growing their own food.

"The first goal is to show children how we can nourish ourselves and how to be good stewards of the land," Costello said.

"In the early grades, we are really looking at creating an appreciation of where their food comes from," Costello said. "We want them to see how things can grow with water and sunlight."

Ultimately, the curriculum will grow to include scientific investigation, math (through) graphs and charts, and writing through research and presentations.

"What makes one plant grow more than others? Is it soil, climate? What is organic farming and how does it contribute to the environment? Costello asked. "These are all things that can be discussed in the classroom, and seen and experienced in the garden."

Ekstrom said she hopes that the program grows successful enough to support the building of greenhouses at the three schools. Then, students can experience a full growing cycle in a controlled environment.

"We're starting with some small goals and hoping it grows each year as everyone becomes more comfortable with what their roles are," Ekstrom said.

Costello said, with regard to curriculum, expansion could include hydroponics, the growing of plants in mineral rich water, and without soil.

Grange involvement

That part of the plan is looking less like a dream, and more likely a possibility, Bradley noted.

In addition to the parents who have already volunteered to help tend the gardens, the program has received monetary support from a local non-profit group. The Central Community Grange chose the three districts as a community grant recipient for 2014.

The Grange, formerly the Boylston Grange, merged with Grange clubs in Westboro and Worcester in 2008 to form the new group.

While the group has streamlined and merged to meet the times, its main focus remains agriculture, according to longtime Boylston members Brad and Debbie Goodrich.

Brad Goodrich said the Massachusetts Grange has adopted a theme of education. The state group has entered into a partnership with the University of Massachusetts, which has an agricultural program. Locally, affiliate groups were asked to partner with schools on agricultural activities. Goodrich said he had been thinking of ways to accomplish this when he read about the proposed garden in The Banner.

"When I saw it in the paper, it all fit," Brad Goodrich said. "It was almost like kismet."

The Grange assisted with the raised beds and equipment, Brad Goodrich said. The group's early support is something district administrators also hope to see continue.

"We are hoping for a long partnership with them," Costello said.

The relationship grew stronger in June, when the local Grange chapter used its annual spaghetti supper to raise funds for the program. Debbie Goodrich said $540 was raised through ticket sales.

The amount grew, however, when Debbie Goodrich won the evening's 50/50 raffle and donated the proceeds and winnings to the schools. Overall, the district received $700.

The Grange's support likely will not end there, Brad Goodrich said.

"We will probably be involved in the next phase, too," he said. "We would like to do more fundraising, for tools, garden hoses, whatever they need, they can tell us."

For Ekstrom and Costello, the efforts of the Grange, parents and other volunteers mean their program about self-sustainable living could have what it needs to become sustainable itself.

"I'm completely excited about this," Ekstrom said. "It is mind boggling to see how many community members and organizations stood up to make this happen."

"To see this much support at the very beginning, in the initial phase, leads me to believe this is only going to get bigger," Bradley said.