The
Jonlyn Mitchel Garden at Kramer Elementary School, Dallas
Inspired by Alice Waters
Edible Schoolyard program in Berkeley, California, a group from the Dallas
Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier
has become involved in a similar garden project at Kramer Elementary School
that’s
well on its way to a spring planting. Its purpose is to create a garden
which is integrated into the school’s
curriculum involving students and the community in appreciation of nourishment,
community, and stewardship of the land. An after school Reading In the
Garden Program is already instituted and the garden will relate to programs
in the science curriculum, as well. The Les Dames group has helped fund
this project and wants to be active in the future with the expertise we
have on hand. Cooking classes, nutrition and discussions with demos about
food from the earth to the table are only a few of the possibilities.
The steering committee for the Kramer Gardens project is made up of some Dames, the school principal, teachers, parents, members of Gardeners in Community Development and Texas Discovery Gardens.
A three phase plan has been developed and much has already been done -- the beds are raised, the irrigation pipes have been laid, and a brick walkway has been installed. The Gazebo has been finished out beautifully by Bernbaum and Klein, seats for reading, etc. -- it is most suitable for an event. A greenhouse, tool shed and assorted planting beds are in the works as well. The enthusiasm of Kyle Richardson, the principal at Kramer, is there to keep the project moving and involvement from the teachers in the form of school projects and curriculum is in the works. This is only beginning - one of the goals is that once the program is established, to bring it into other schools - possibly all the way up to the high school level.
The garden is named for Jonlyn Mitchel, former principal at Kramer who is now the principal at Franklin Middle School. John Tatum, a builder and parent who has overseen all of the construction, will dedicate the gazebo to their friend Nancy Bray, who passed away tragically last May. She brought the Tatum family to Kramer, has many friends in the area, and was herself a beautiful educator. A weathervane for the top of the gazebo will be designed by one of the students. It is a long-term aim of the Edible Schoolyard to offer an vision for creating gardens and kitchens in schools across the country. We hope that similarly the Kramer Garden will serve as a model for other schools to awaken the senses and encourage students to understand and appreciate the connection between landscape and nourishment. Reaching children while they are young and in a time when fast food is the basic sustenance will open a world that they in all probability will not be exposed to in their every day lives.
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