COOL gardening lessons

Students at Kyrene de los Cerritos Elementary School in Phoenix, AZ have learned many cool lessons through their gardening project to include delayed gratification, patience, and generosity along with the benefits of working hard and acquiring basic horticultural skills.

Each week the students, approximately 620 in number, donate a harvest of fresh fruit and vegetables to the Kyrene Family Resource Center, which distributes the food to needy families within the school district.

Many of the students are realizing the cool lessons they are learning:

Fourth Grade Student Gabby Walton-"I really like gardening, getting dirty, and working hard. It's important to all of us."

Carter Westlund realizes patience is needed in waiting for seeds to grow-"It was really hard to wait because pumpkins take a long time."

Jaden Bills, fourth-grader, soaks in the peace not present in the classroom-"It's a lot calmer our there; you can hear the birds chirping. It's a fun place to be."

Rich Pysher, fourth-grade teacher, revels in the fact that his students are learning the "value of delayed gratification-"Today, many payoffs are immediate and patience is not in high demand. When students plant seeds, they don't see any immediate results. If they stop tending to the garden because of that fact, they'll never see results."

Mr. Pysher expands on that thought-"Someone once said that 'To plant something is to believe in tomorrow.' I think working in the garden helps students to expand their time horizon, and to understand the value of patiently tending and nurturing something until it is mature enough to show results."

Darcy DiCosmo, Cerritos Principal, also witnesses gardening's benefits-"Our students take such pride in knowing that their efforts to grow and harvest fruits and vegetables will help families in need. Working in the garden gives them a sense of pride and a feeling of accomplishment."

Here's to the students and teachers of Kyrene de los Cerritos Elementary School for realizing the extended benefits and lessons of gardening-stay positive, stay generous, and STAY COOL!

What do you think of the lessons learned by these students? What other life lessons can be learned from gardening?