November 28, 2022:
The Mettawee Fab Four - Sophia LeVitre, Eleanor Zimmerman, Emma Graf, and Margaret Donaldson - can’t wait until next spring. That’s when they take their first steps along with their fellow sixth grade classmates to create a 4,000 square foot community garden next to the Mettawee Community School (MCS).
The four youngsters were the beneficiaries of a new program created by Merck Forest and Farmland Center (MFFC) that encourages students to design and lead projects on the MFFC land next to the school. The girls accepted a whopping $960 check to work on their vision.
“The community garden is just the latest in a growing list of joint collaborations between Merck and Mettawee,” says Brooke DeBonis, MCS Principal. “We are so fortunate to have such a constructive resource in our community. Merck is just a wonderful partner with our school.”
For Merck, the connection with Mettawee provides more life science learning possibilities for young people.
“The goal is to focus student attention on conservation, outdoor recreation, ecology and natural science,” says Rob Terry, MFFC Executive Director. “It also provides the kids with opportunities to experiment with project design and make a pitch for funding. They passed with flying colors.”
The four girls quickly saw the benefits of a community garden at MCS.
“We could grow fresh, healthy food for our school and community,” said one student.
“It would be fun working outside with our friends,” said another.
“We would need to get our parents involved to maintain the garden during the summer,” said a third, thinking ahead.
“We would learn to grow our own food, surrounded by nature,” summed up a fourth.
All these ideas and more were incorporated into a colorful 12 page powerpoint presentation. “We needed to select our plants so we could use the entire growing season: lettuces, strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, watermelons, beans, and pumpkins,'' a student explained. "We didn’t want all the fruits and vegetables to be ripe at the same time.”
Then they had to present their idea to the grown-ups: “It was pretty stressful, but we survived.”
They did a lot more than that.
“The students presented a well thought out project that clearly articulated what they wanted to achieve through their garden,” said MFFC Education Director, Christine Hubbard. “They outlined a realistic timeline, itemized their costs, and even developed a plan to sign up volunteers for taking care of the garden when school is not in session.”
For sixth grade teacher Heather McGann, the joint project with MFFC serves as a capstone for all her students' Mettawee experience. “To meet the challenge put forward by Merck required the use of all of their learned skills,” says McGann. “It shows the kids how what takes place in the classroom can be transferred into common good for the community. It also builds student pride and self confidence. They all did good work.”
Their community garden is no longer a dream. The money is in the bank and final plans for planting are all in place. Now all the students need to do before grabbing rakes and shovels next spring is to rest up over the winter. They’ll need to be ready. Growing season comes and goes fast in Vermont.
