“Seeing the garden throughout the whole year is an amazing transformation because of all the people that come through, the connections we make, and the joy we get in seeing our work culminate in the plants we grow.” — Henry Lau, Windermere Secondary Grade 12 Student

While it is the beginning of the summer growing season, for most schools, it’s the end of another learning season. After spending the past eight months at school,  students ’round the province are hanging up their pencils, returning their textbooks, saying goodbye.  And what do they have to show for it? Well, in particular, 12 Think & Eat Green schools have created 12 (who would have guessed?) posters that document their activities inside and outside of their school gardens, cafeterias, and classrooms. They are a lens into an exciting project, a bulletin board of exciting initiatives to be copied and improved upon, a summative statement of a job well done.

Having a garden at VanTech has brought more experiential learning to my students. Instead of learning about plants and their ecosystem from books, we go outside where we can observe, smell, feel and get our hands dirty. Having cold frame has allowed us to extend our growing season as well as creating an opportunity to understand how greenhouse works.” — Mélanie Béliveau, French Immersion Science Teacher

Check out all of the stories of the Think & Eat Green @ School partner learning communities below!

And if you are a tad inspired, a wee jealous, mark July 3-5, 2012 in your calendars. Think & Eat Green @ School is hosting its second Summer Institute! Attend workshops on composting, harvesting, storing, watering and irrigation! What does poetry in a school garden look like? Join us in taking the first steps towards creating your own outdoor learning community, in taking a moment to reflect on your own current practice, in collecting inspiration to revitalize your food-based classroom learning. Register here!