Why School Gardens are important...
Happy Roots currently works with twenty-five Rowan Salisbury Schools. If you'd like assistance with a school garden, please contact us today!
1. LIFE SKILLS
Food is KINDA important, right? With technological advances, we're growing more and more distant from our food source. It is crucial that students learn how to grow their own quality food.
2. INCREASED ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT
It's hands on learning at its best! A school garden is an outdoor classroom right on campus! Students practice math, science, history, health, sustainability and countless other subjects in this real world learning environment.
3. HEALTHY KIDS
Not only do students learn about healthy foods and nutrition, students also gain the therapeutic benefits of nature and gardening by practicing therapeutic horticulture as a healthy coping mechanism.
4. SOCIAL SKILLS & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Teamwork, Responsibility, Self-Understanding & Maturity, Creativity, Problem Solving and Decision Making are all important lessons learned through school gardens.
4. VOCATIONAL
Agriculture and agribusiness, including food, forestry, and fiber, contribute $95.9 billion to the North Carolina economy making it the state's #1 industry. NC is a leading producer of sweet potatoes, Christmas trees, hogs, turkeys, trout, strawberries and pickling cucumbers. Other North Carolina commodities include broilers, eggs, blueberries, peaches, peanuts, apples, catfish, watermelons, tomatoes, corn, soybeans, cotton, cattle, grapes and squash. Happy Roots also works with local landscapers and farmers to find students work after high school.
5. ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
Last but not least, school gardens are a direct connection to and teacher of nature. In even the most urban settings, school gardens teach us about ecosystems (and all the millions and billions of living creatures in it!) that our human activity ultimately effects. Here we learn respect for and how to properly care for nature, crops, and our natural resources.
