Sharon Elementary Kicks Off "Feed My School" Program

What originally began as a barren field of weeds became the star of the Feed My School for a Week kick-off at Sharon Elementary in Suwanee, Ga., last week.

With the help of parent volunteers, teachers and community leaders, the school courtyard was transformed into the DIGS -- an interactive learning space that includes life-size simple machines, an amphitheater for chorus concerts, outdoor musical instruments and a school garden.

Sharon Elementary kindergarten students, dressed as farmers,
wait to hear from United Egg Producers representatives during
their Feed My School for a Week kick off on Sept. 20.

"Before we knew it, it was one of those things that grew legs and just had a life of its own. It has transformed not only the courtyard, but really the spirit of outside. The energy is phenomenal," said Jenny Spartz, Sharon Elementary assistant principal. "The learning that takes place is just A-plus. You can't replicate it."

On Sept. 20, the learning taking place was all about Georgia agriculture. Students started their day with a presentation from United Egg Producers, learning about the state's poultry and egg industries and the important parts they play in economics and nutrition. After a brief question-and-answer period, classes headed out to the DIGS for an agriculture expo.

Students hopped on an orange Kubota tractor with fifth-grade parent Michael Hardin and learned about agriculture story.

"I grew up on a farm in Kentucky, so it was just a good day for me to come and spend it with the kids, answer questions," Hardin said. "Kids in this area think everything grows at the store. And it's very important they understand where their food comes from ... It's very important that we don't lose that as a society."

Students examine the roots of hydroponic lettuce during Sharon
Elementary's Feed My School for a Week kick-off expo.

From there, classes taste-tested hydroponic lettuce from Circle A Lettuce; shook their own butter at a station manned by Butter Sensations and Great Harvest Bread; and came face-to-face with bees courtesy of the Forsyth County Beekeepers Club.

"Today's kick off to the Feed My School program exceeded our expectations and was a spectacular success," Principal Amy Bartlett said. "All 900 students were able to participate in learning stations featuring locally grown products."

In the garden, students examined peppers, pumpkins and other crops, some planted next to black-and-white QR codes to scan.

"They scan the QR code and it gives them information about what that plant is," Spartz said. "A lot of crops here we use in our science labs to feed our animals."

Blaze, a resident of the Sharon Elementary science lab, enjoys
Georgia-grown vegetables from the DIGS garden as part of
her daily meals.

To prepare for their official Feed My School Week in April -- when Sharon Elementary will serve 75 to 100 percent Georgia-grown products to its student body -- students are already planting beets, broccoli and other seedlings in their science lab, carefully cultivating them until they're big enough to be planted in the DIGS garden.

"We'll be hopefully harvesting some things that we can eat in April when we culminate the project," Spartz said.

Sharon Elementary faculty, students and parents are looking forward to learning and teaching about agriculture throughout the school year, and Bartlett said she is honored the school was chosen for the program, a joint project by the Georgia departments of education and agriculture.

"It's always good to know where your food is coming from," John Kim, a kindergarten parent from Suwanee, said after watching the morning presentation. "You get the appreciation that somebody's behind where your food comes from, it doesn't just magically just come from the supermarket."

Seedlings grow in the Sharon Elementary science lab until they
are big enough to be planted in the DIGS garden.

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