The third-grade students at Robert Frost Elementary harvested their first full cycle of radish crops last week, after weeks of planting, watering and weeding the school garden.
Their result: 11 pounds of radishes — all of which were donated to the Westerville Area Resource Ministry (WARM).
With the support and guidance from their third-grade teachers Katrina Baumann, Maureen McAlister and Colin Ullom-Morse, the students maintained his or her own garden plot. McAlister said the project aligns with their third-grade motto: Be kind to yourself, be kind to others and be kind to your community.
The garden started nearly 10 years ago as a partnership between Robert Frost and Westerville North High School under the direction of chemistry teacher Jeff Bracken. Bracken manages the WNHS garden and donates its vegetable harvest to WARM. Robert Frost’s garden recently received a facelift from parents and is primarily used by the third-grade classes.
Second-grade students will add worms to the garden in the spring following their unit on worms. Third-graders typically grow vegetables in the garden, especially radish seeds in the fall due to their quick turnaround time and the impending frost. In the past, students have planted carrots, lettuce, spinach and more radishes in the spring.