'Growing the Forest Green'
Between the brick school buildings of North Forest High School lies a little oasis – a garden lined with lush greens that seem to sparkle in the sunlight. It’s called the “Up and Atom” Garden, and it is the result of education, cultivation and lots of hard work.
The garden is a project of North Forest’s 4-H club and was created in partnership with the Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program. Students, teachers, administrators and guests from the community gathered on Feb. 25 for “Growing the Forest Green,” a program and ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the garden and what it brings to the students of North Forest High School.
A few of us from The Blood Center attended the event – account representatives Shannon Cook, Lori Griffin and Letisha Polk, Donor Recruitment manager Kevin Shipley and myself. North Forest High School is one of the many high schools that take part in our Power of Life program, and the students who give blood have helped save thousands of lives over the years.
Interestingly enough, it was the blood drive program that inspired the school’s newfound commitment to nutrition.
In the course of hosting blood drives, Health Science Technology instructor and blood drive chairperson Dr. Emily Bartley noticed an alarming trend. Almost a third of those who attempted to donate were being deferred due to low iron. It became obvious that many of the students’ eating habits needed improvement, and she sought out to change that by educating the students on good nutrition.
The “Up and Atom” Garden is part of that educational process, but the lessons learned from working in the garden go far beyond the topic of nutrition.
“Students are learning to grow vegetables, design horticulture projects, create gardening habitats and develop leadership, nutrition, food safety and life skills,” said Dr. Warren Anderson, North Forest’s principal. “The gardening activities through environmental sciences enable the students to relate the science classroom curriculum to real world activities.”
Bartley also emphasizes the sense of pride the students have taken in the garden. When a piece of trash flies into the garden, she says, a student passing by will always take a moment to pick it up – and not just the 4-H students who worked on the garden. “They understand that this is their garden.”
For more pictures from “Growing the Forest Green,” visit The Blood Center’s Flickr page.
That’s really cool. Glad to see the community getting involved like that.
I have had to honor of working with is school’s 4H club and blood drive chairperson this year to host blood drives. North Forest is a school that is striving for recognition of hard working staff and students. This school is deserving (just as any other school district)to receive educational benefits in abundance. North Forest High School was chosen as a nominee for High School of the Year along with 3 other schools from a pool of 224 high schools across 26 counties. In 2009, their dedicated students and staff saved over 299 lives. Great job North Forest High School for partnering to save lives in the community!