- April 25, 2024
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As he walked around the Bunnell Elementary School garden Saturday, May 12, student Colin Smith was eager to pick ripe vegetables. He walked from garden box to garden box pointing out the biggest ones in the bunch, the ones he said would make for good eating.
Smith was at the school for Families United in Nutrition, Community and Health Day, an event organized by health teacher Cathie Zanella, who is concerned about youth health.
“Family time is really important,” Zanella said. “The purpose of the event is to get families moving together and to get a better understanding about basic nutrition and going green.”
The day was the culmination of a yearlong curriculum in which students learn about eating healthy, exercising and growing food in the school’s gardens. The curriculum was funded by a combination of grants, including a Dell Trayer Teacher Grant from the Flagler County Education Foundation and Fuel Up to Play 60, sponsored by the National Dairy Council and the National Football League.
“We’ve got a good thing going on here,” Zanella said. “The kids are excited about the garden. Their faces lights up — they are learning life skills, and that’s important.”
Zanella stressed that growing a garden is easy. To demonstrate that point, she placed tires with planted vegetables around the garden.
“You don’t need a garden box,” she said. “You can plant in a tire and still grow enough stuff to cook at home and save. It’s very economical.”
