Grant completes funding for KWH outdoor classroom

As an ongoing project since May of 2016, the garden area at K. William Harvey Elementary School can finally be completed and transformed into a covered outdoor classroom.

Last week Whole Kids Foundation awarded the school with a $3,000 grant, which along with other various contributions collected over the years, will complete fundraising efforts for the project. The garden, currently a fenced area with 21 raised boxes designed for planting a large variety of fruits and vegetables for the students, will soon have a permanent covered structure added.

The idea for an outdoor classroom space was first devised by now-retired K. William Harvey teacher Carey Swanberg, with the help of Ronan’s previous FoodCorps service member Laura Arvidson. Swanberg had a vision for the garden and over the years different parts of the concept came to fruition.

Joan Graham, Ronan School District’s curriculum director, said Swanberg believed in the project and inspired local resident’s involvement to help make an idea a reality.

“It has definitely been a community project, Carey had spearheaded the fundraising and everybody in the community was very generous,” Graham said. “There’s been lots of helping hands that helped us get to where we are now.”

Current FoodCorps service member Becca Simon, who began serving the Ronan School District in August of 2019, said part of her service project this year included managing the garden and applying for grants. After applying for several grants throughout the school year, Simon saw her efforts validated after the Whole Kids Foundation grant was awarded to the school. Combined with other fundraising efforts, the grant now gives the district enough money to finish this multi-year project.

“It will just be a better environment and it’s the last step in our entire garden project at this point,” Simon said.

Although plans are still being made, Simon said it is likely to be a 28 by 20 foot structure complete with benches around the perimeter and built-in storage compartments. As a FoodCorps service member, Simon educates children about healthy food and gardening, while also relating the processes to core subjects. The goal of the covered structure is to enhance the experience for the students, protect them from various weather elements and open up more learning opportunities.

“So all my curriculum actually ties into the common core curriculum,” she said. “So we connect to science standards, math standards, language arts and social studies. We’re able to work with the teachers and come up with those lesson connections…”

Alongside Simon, many others help out to maintain the garden area. The Ronan Food Service Director Marsha Wartick contributes to the garden as well as many food service workers and teachers. Wartick uses some of the produce grown in the garden to deliver healthy meal options to all the schools in the district.

“Kids get to see (food) growing in the garden, but they also get to eat it in the lunchroom,” Graham said.

“It’s kind of an everybody helps out garden, but its primary focus is to provide for K. William Harvey’s students and the kitchen garden,” she added.

So not only does the garden bring many learning opportunities to elementary aged kids, but it also provides actual food for students in the community. In addition when the kids have extra produce harvested in the fall, they are able to donate to the garden’s sponsors, local food banks and the senior center.

Through the years of building up the garden area, Swanberg’s original idea has really had an impact and continues to feed the community.

“(Swanberg and Arvidson) had this huge idea to have a garden that would be able to feed people, especially the students; it’s been a long term project,” Simon said regarding seeing the original idea progress into what it is now.

The education part of the garden serves not only K. William Harvey students, but also various conservation groups and the school’s gardening summer camp. With the addition of the covered structure, the outdoor area will be more available to those groups and less affected by the weather.

“Organizations that come don’t always have flexible days, so when the weather isn’t good it will allow them to still have the activities out there,” Graham said. “Whether it gets too rainy or in the summer when it gets too hot, it will allow for better control of the elements.”

According to Graham, the district hopes to begin building the structure this spring. However it could be delayed depending on the current availability of construction companies due to COVID-19.

The garden has had a great impact on the Ronan community and with this future addition, it is poised to just keep on giving.

Reporter Whitney England may be reached at 758-4419 or wengland@leaderadvertiser.com