Second Graders Hold Farmers Market
What happens when second graders hold their first Farmers Market? A lot of learning and fun!
Guest blogger and School Garden Educator Clarisa Guerrero updates us on the recent Farmers Market held at Harding Elementary. Harding is one of 38 schools participating in Explore Ecology’s School Garden Program.
Here’s Clarissa’s post!
Harding Elementary had its first Farmers Market. The best part? The market was put together by second grade students. Not only did the students care for and cultivate their school garden, they also were able to experience the full circle of “farm to table”.
On the day of the market, the students helped harvest, bundle, label, and sell all of their produce!
With help from 4th graders who made many posters promoting the “Second Grade Farmer’s Market”, it was a successful turn out! These ambitious and dedicated students made $53 in profit and were able to directly experience the lesson of farm to table- a concept that that they had been learning in their classroom.
Harding Principal Veronica Binkley says, “When a parent steps up and encourages an action to support a unit of inquiry, that is a beautiful thing! True IB (International Baccalaureate) Learning at its best! The Farmer’s market was a perfect real world experience that brought the learning to the whole community.”
Josh was born and raised in Santa Barbara, where his passion and curiosity for the environment began and has continued to grow. During his undergraduate studies, Josh pursued this interest at the University of California at Santa Cruz, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies.
Melissa Dodos developed her passion for creative reuse as a mother of four and elementary educator over the past 25 years. She loves to inspire creativity by connecting people with resources and ideas.
Veronica grew up in San Diego and spent four years in San Luis Obispo studying Animal Science at Cal Poly. As an undergrad she learned lots about livestock, agriculture, and wildlife.
Stephanie began her journey as an educator over twenty years ago working as a preschool teacher in Washington state for a cooperative preschool program affiliated with Whatcom Community College. She loved observing the wonder and curiosity of the children and bringing them out into nature to explore the natural world. She continued her love for learning and got her teaching license and then her Montessori certification and worked as an elementary teacher in Tribal, Public, and Montessori schools. She collaborated to create a school garden and her students loved it so much that it became a special place where they could garden, read, explore, play, and it provided a safe sanctuary for students to calm down and reset when they were having difficult moments.
Morgan’s mermaid soul is always seeking adventure—swimming a relay across the Santa Barbara Channel and taking the first photo of a newborn orca off Anacapa Island being standout experiences close to home.
Lindsay Johnson
Thank you Explore Ecology! Our Garden Educator, Clarisa Guerrero is magical with our students, teachers AND parents! Her creativity, knowledge and ability to bring passion to the Harding garden has been a joy to watch! We are all growing and learning together!
Thank you, Veronica for your kind words about Clarisa and your support of our School Gardens Program.
I would love to attend any future farmers markets.
Hi Tisha, Thanks for reading!