School Community Garden: Taft Elementary

For those of you who are not aware of this, I hold a degree in Elementary Education with hopes of teaching some day!  I thoroughly enjoy learning and in turn have become passionate about guiding our youth to discover & explore the wonders of the world.  My teaching philosophy relies heavily on allowing children to learn in tactile and hands on ways.  A school garden can be beneficial in SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS!  The teachers I remember were the ones that gave us activities to harbor our learning.  One science teacher took us to the river to test the water, we learned about the water cycle in a very hands on way that I will never forget.  Now what I do not remember is the repetitive worksheets that memorized definitions that would later prove to meaningless, there wasn't any application.
I am not saying that current or past teaching methods are invalid, I am just excited to see a garden play a dedicated role in a child's academic curriculum.  A garden is sustainable.
I asked for feedback about school garden's on our FACEBOOK page, here were a few responses (hopefully I can share more soon)

KATE:
Fresh food, new physical activity in the fresh air, economical lessons, learn to be responsible and follow through, spark interest in science, use math to determine germination rate, try new foods, pride, a new skill...what's not positive about that?

KARLA:
Ditto that, plus the joy of eating something you helped to grow and tend! Some students try a new food because it was in their garden, and they like it! Also, start a compost pile, and see how helpful that is to the garden! Produce can be donated to the food bank, or used to help those in need local to the school. Lots of ideas here!

Please comment on this post and share your thoughts.

On Tuesday this week they held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Taft Elementary School Garden...They had an incredible array of student presentations as well as wonderful support from the community.
I am excited to visit the garden this summer to see it grow!

Here are some pictures from the ribbon cutting ceremony!
Click on the BUGS link to see the entire album.

From BUGS

Dear Idaho

Dear Idaho,

I want to thank you for letting me travel your terrain the past two weeks.  You gave us nice weather and clear roads to drive on.  We logged almost 2000 miles and we got to discover how beautiful you are in the process.  Thank you for valuing tradition, hard work, and community.  All of these things are very important and I appreciate everyone who lives in Idaho that was willing to take the time to share with us.  We couldn't have done any of this without you, your voice is important, it does matter! We as a Task Force believe that in a state as abundant and gorgeous as you there is no reason for anyone to go hungry.  Thank you for helping us get just one step closer to making that belief a reality.

Sincerely,
Reyne
The Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force

ps I was able to shoot some amazing photos of Idaho.  When I get the chance I will edit some of my favorites (due to lighting and color issues) and then share them here.

End of the Week: Blackfoot, Malad, & Twin Falls

The last part of our trip went by fast! We traveled to Blackfoot on Wednesday, Malad on Thursday, stayed in Burley Friday, and then on to Twin Falls Saturday!

We are very thankful to have stayed with Shannon Jensen in Blackfoot, her children even gave up their bedrooms for us to sleep in!  It was very nice of them.  :)  Blackfoot was fun, we took lots of pictures and we played the Wii with Shannon's children, TJ & Jordyn.  I promise we were working too!

We drove around Malad (about an hour outside of Pocatello) and almost got stuck in the mud (long story ha ha).  While they are a small community, they have a lot of heart.  We heard lots of opinions, we were encouraged to hear that everyone we spoke to had a lot to say.   When we decided that we wanted to visit Malad we asked the local SEICA (South Eastern Idaho Community Action) for help and the were so very accommodating!

We also met with community members in Blackfoot and Twin Falls.  Both of which are very passionate about making important  community connections.  I thoroughly enjoy talking with people and just hearing their stories---this trip was very informative and definitely beneficial!

~Reyne

Blackfoot Pictures:

Malad Photos:

More Driving!

I just love taking pictures while we are driving, I find that I can some pretty cool shots.  Here are some from the drive to Blackfoot.  We hit a rainstorm so I had to get some raindrops on the windows!

ENJOY....

~Reyne

CHALLIS

Dear Challis:  Thank you so much for being so hospitable and friendly :)

We stayed an the Pioneer Inn which was very cozy and had a welcoming atmosphere.  Even their dog Mr. Lucky made us feel at home.

The Y-Inn had a large accommodating meeting room that was definitely more than we expected.  The service was wonderful!

I thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Challis.  We got some wonderful feedback from the community, everyone was very gracious to share their stories.  It was inspiring to be in a community that felt very caring.  This trip has revealed some very isolated communities.  The closest food stamp office is in Salmon that is at least 50 miles away, and anywhere else is at least 2 hours away.  That doesn't sound like much until you consider the quality of the mountain roads in icy or snowy conditions.

This is a very beautiful part of Idaho, I can see why many would fall in love with it.

I heard someone say that it is hard to find good produce in their community, they have to drive elsewhere. At the same time we also heard that they are working on building up a farmers market that they just started last year.  Apparently there were at least 55 vendors, most being produce vendors!
I sure wish we could do some more traveling so we can go there during the summer as well!

~Reyne

Driving to Challis...

We were greeted by yet another sunny & beautiful day on the drive to Challis from Ketchum on Tuesday.  Check out the gorgeous drive!

This is the bathhouse at some hot springs......

When we made it to Challis this is where we stayed, very nice place I highly recommend it!

More Challis pictures to come.  We just got back to Boise today so I will have more time to add some more posts about our trip.
Have a great weekend!

~Reyne

Fairfield

We embarked on our Eastern Idaho travels on Monday, April 19 in the afternoon.  First stop: FAIRFIELD. I apologize about being so behind on my posting, internet access has been limited on this trip.  My first priority this week was to get caught up from the Northern Idaho trip, apparently people have been asking about it.  :)  It is great to have so many interested readers.  Thank you!

So we drove to Fairfield for our evening focus group meeting at the Sandwiched Inn deli.  Halfway through the drive I got to wave a quick hello to my hometown of Mountain Home.  Monday was beautiful!  I had to quickly discard of my sweater, what a nice warm & sunny day!

Thank you to the Sandwiched Inn deli for providing a meeting space along with a delicious meal!  Fairfield is small, but holds a quaint charm.  In our meeting we were quickly informed of how isolated their town was.  There is only one grocery store in town and they are unable to accept food stamps.  The residents have to drive to Twin Falls or Jerome, which is at least 57 miles away to access any other grocery stores.  This can take well over 2 hours in the winter time, due to snow ins that lead to road closures if they are even able to put gas into their vehicle.

Here is a glimpse at Fairfield:

We drove to Ketchum that night and were able to stay with someone who had just bought a house.  Thank you Craig for allowing us to stay with you, especially since you were in the middle of the move in process...we felt very welcome there!

Next stop: CHALLIS!

~Reyne