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With the help of the American Heart Association and Chevron Corp., students at Cherokee Elementary in Pascagoula planted a Teaching Garden on Oct. 24, 2014. (Courtesy of Pascagoula School District)
Chevron Corp. employee Jason Coletti volunteers to help Cherokee third grade students Elizabeth Jones and Shairis Rosario plant a winter garden at school Oct. 24, 2014. (Courtesy of Pascagoula School District)
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Learning about the parts of a plant is a lot more fun when you can watch a real life crop thrive right outside your classroom.
At least that's what Cherokee Elementary leaders hope third grade students will think about a newly created Teaching Garden, which is the first of its kind on the Mississippi coast.
The garden is funded through an American Heart Association grant and sponsored by Chevron Corp.
Friday was "build day," where adult volunteers built raised cedar plant beds and filled them with soil.
The students planted seeds and seedlings that, with any luck, will yield a healthy winter garden crop, Principal Tina Bankston said.
The students and volunteers planted beet, carrot and onion seeds and seedlings of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and two varieties of lettuce. They also planted parsley, cilantro and thyme.
"It was a really exciting day," Bankston said. "Basically the garden is to help promote healthy living and getting young students involved from the very start -- from planting, taking care of it, harvesting and then tasting the vegetables."
A lot of the students haven't had a lot of experience with different kinds of vegetables, she said, "so we hope it will give them opportunities to try some new things."
As the garden grows, the students will learn about science concepts such as weather and the parts of a plant.
Third grade students will have the most time in the garden, Bankston said, because the project aligns well with the curriculum for that level.
"The students will go out and tend to the garden, and it will tie into what they're learning about in science" she said. "They will also keep journals to write about it, compare how the plants look and tell what they did to tend to the harvest."
Bankston said one eager child on Friday was already asking, "When can we eat it?"
School leaders suspect a nice homegrown green salad might be in the children's future.
No one is quite sure yet what the kids will think about the beets.
"It's just an opportunity to make learning hands-on and have them reap the benefits of their work," Bankston said.
About 50 third grade students will work the garden.
Amy Brandenstein, a volunteer from Chevron, said company leaders were happy to sponsor the first garden on the Mississippi Coast.
"It was just wonderful to see the children actually be a part of the process," she said after the build day.
"It was wonderful to see their reactions and know they'll see science at work," she said. "We hope they learn a lot from it."