Students from the continued to give back to the community – but this time they were working in their own backyard.
Twenty one students spent a slightly chilly Friday working in the , led by the actively engaged committee of RCS parents who have devoted much of their free time to tending the year old garden.
The garden has proved to be a valuable resource to the RCS community, both as a source of learning, as well as a source of food. The kids spent the afternoon engaged in activities in several key areas.
A team of students planted seedlings in indoor planters to begin the spring growth season, planting a variety of seeds including beets, radishes, lettuce, arugula, kale, and Swiss chard, that should germinate in early May when they will be transplanted to the outside garden.
A second team of students transplanted some early plantings into the garden’s “stagecoaches” to accelerate their growth. A third team picked up rakes and shovels and gave the entire garden a good spring cleaning. Once the team’s work was completed, the students helped with the first harvest of the season—a robust haul that included arugula, lettuce, and mustard greens. The team brought the harvest to the RCS dining room, where members of the kitchen staff integrated the produce into upcoming meals.
The students who were there (ranging from grades five through eight) learned an immense amount during the course of the afternoon about the plants that grow best in the garden, what creates an ideal growing environment, and how the weather impacts the growing season (there are some places where this warm weather actually is helpful!).
The garden project was the third of six Fridays dedicated to community service this year. Upcoming activities include a trip to the SPCA in Briarcliff in April to support the shelter in their efforts, as well as a return trip to the garden in May.
Rippowam Cisqua School is a co-educational PreKindergarten through Grade Nine independent country day school located in Bedford and Mount Kisco, New York. For more information on the School’s mission and philosophy, as well as the School’s community service initiatives, please call (914) 244-1292 or email susie_danziger@rcsny.org.
