Erie students grow healthy food in school garden and find peace of mind

The Red Hawk Elementary School back-to-school night on Aug. 29 had a special bloom about it — parents and community members were greeted at the school's entrance by a colorful, fresh bounty of tri-colored cherry tomatoes, corn on the cob, beets, cantaloupe, turnips, basil, carrots, heirloom tomatoes and more. Alongside the annual meet-and-greet opportunity, the evening included the first ever student-run Farmers Market, which featured produce freshly harvested from the school's own garden.

The 1,500-square-foot Red Hawk Elementary community garden in Erie has been a growing and flourishing part of the school since its inception in 2011. It was implemented by then-principal Cyrus Weinberger. Now principal for Erie's new PK-8 school, set to open in the fall of 2018, Weinberger remains closely connected with Red Hawk through Health & Innovation Through Education, formerly the Red Hawk Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to support health, wellness, and technology initiatives for all SVVSD students.

"Red Hawk is proud to be a leader in health and wellness initiatives," Weinberger says. "The garden is an important part of the Red Hawk Elementary environmental responsibility platform. Research shows kids are willing to try more foods they wouldn't otherwise taste when they are involved in the growing and cultivating. They think more consciously about what they eat. There are endless benefits."

Cafeteria will use garden produce

Throughout the year, every student at Red Hawk shares a role in cultivating and learning from the garden. Each classroom is equipped with a grow station, and the school shares a hydroponic growing tower on wheels, which teachers can sign up for in roughly four-six week cycles. Classroom grow stations include a heating pad, light station and materials to start a tray of plants. Plants are later transplanted into the garden. Produce that is harvested has traditionally been sent home with students, shared in the staff lounge, or prepared for the kids in summer camp. This year, food will also be incorporated with meals in the cafeteria.

Leyla Ahmadov and her sons Emil, 10, and Kai, 2, enjoy fresh salsa made on Aug. 29 during the farmers market at Red Hawk Elementary School in Erie. (Lewis Geyer / Staff Photographer)

"I started at Red Hawk when it opened, and I was in first grade," says Clara Schoeneshoefer, now a seventh grader who came back to help support the market alongside her mother and younger brother, James, in fourth grade. "I kind of grew up with the garden. I remember in fourth grade when our class grew seeds in bags, and we kept a record of the changes we observed, tracking the days. After the seeds grew, we could plant them at home or in the garden. That was really cool. It still sticks with me, how kids get to have the full experience of growing a garden, even if they don't have one at home."

Red Hawk's garden is accessed in numerous ways year-round. The Community Schools before- and after-school program, Soaring Hawks, runs a garden club. "Garden Gnomes" help weed, water and harvest. During the academic year, classes can sign up to work in the garden, conduct observations and take advantage of opportunities to tie in class work. In the summer, the garden is maintained by students participating in the school summer camp program as well as parent and community volunteers.

"In summer camp, whenever there's an opportunity to go out into the garden I take it," says fourth grader Avery Barnes. "It's a great place to share your feelings. It calms me."

Looking to expand

Red Hawk's garden is said to inspire healthy eating, provide peace of mind and instill an ethic of hard work. As evidenced by the enthusiastic turnout at the market during back-to-school night, the school's community delights in these benefits. And they nurture a vision to keep on growing.

"We're always looking for ways and opportunities to expand and bring in more community involvement," says fourth grade teacher Kelly Ormiesher, who oversees the garden. "We'd like to extend the growing window, and thereby broaden the impact we can make. One big limiting factor we contend with is timing. We plant around Mother's Day and break up for the summer shortly after. We'd love to bring in hoop houses, maybe a greenhouse, and one day even a small orchard."

To work toward realizing expansion goals, Weinberger and HIE president Deb Schoeneshoefer came up with the idea of hosting a market. "Originally, we looked at emulating a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) model," Weinberger says. "Immediately though, key issues cropped up. Namely, we couldn't produce enough food to provide weekly for people. We approached Andrew Nowak, school garden specialist with Slow Food Denver, and he encouraged the Farmers Market model. After that, we reached out to SVVSD Nutrition Services, and they were on board right away."

Health & Innovation Through Education provided funding for the farmers market event. Aiding in preparation, Slow Food Denver provided a farmers market toolkit, which served as a useful guide. SVVSD Nutrition Services helped to supplement school garden yields with produce from Longmont's Ollin Farms. The rest of the work came from energized Garden Gnomes. "Last Tuesday, we harvested," says fifth grader Raina White. "On Thursday, we made signs. This morning we harvested some more. It's work, but it's fun."

Proceeds from the farmers market will go straight back to the school garden programming, with a small portion reserved to promote similar events and goals in other local schools. Sure signs of success were evident from the beginning. Carrots, beans and cantaloupe sold out within minutes, though plenty of tomatoes, turnips and other offerings remained a little longer. During the event, Andrew Nowak and volunteer Jodie Popma conducted interactive chef demos, using student assistance to teach how to prepare delicious, versatile salsa.

They didn't need to worry about getting buy-in with their student audience. "Our food is really, really delicious," says fifth grader Marek Jones. "You can tell it's fresh and local. You can taste the difference."

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