Suffern NY – Sowing The Seeds Of Education At Yeshiva School Garden

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    Suffern NY – A new initiative introduced recently at one Monsey elementary school will turn science, math, nutrition and halacha into a hands on experience, by using a recently launched school garden to grow food, do a mitzvah and also function as a teaching tool.

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    Yeshiva Darchei Noam is the first yeshiva to sign up as part of Cornell University’s Cooperative Extension School Garden Network in Rockland County, with a project that began this past spring. Boys in all grades were given seeds to start in their classroom, with an official Garden Replanting Day held in mid-June, where students, parents and staff members spent a busy Sunday afternoon transplanting the plants into plots, divided by grade.

    “How wonderful that our boys are involved in a hands-on activity, teaching them life skills, patience and perseverance,” Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, founder and dean of the yeshiva, told VIN News. “It gives the kids a sense of fulfillment and it is an invaluable lesson for them to learn that food doesn’t come in a bag.”

    Rabbi Horowitz, who is both a noted educator and lecturer and is considered to be an authority on child raising, hopes to be incorporating the garden into next year’s curriculum in a variety of different ways.

    “Aside from the obvious science lessons, we hope to use the school garden in lessons on the lamed tes melachos as well as the environment and recycling,” said Rabbi Horowitz.

    The school garden is located on a property located three miles away from the school and currently contains a variety of plantings including zucchini, peppers, beets, tomatoes, cucumbers, string beans, eggplant, strawberries, corn and flowers. The plots are fenced in to prevent them from being destroyed by deer, groundhogs and other animals.

    “We have a rotation of families volunteering weekly to care for the garden over the summer months,” explained parent Miriam Zisman, one of the co-directors of the school’s gardening project. “By joining with the Cornell Cooperative Extension School Garden network, we have the ability to attend workshops and get advice and support. We are hoping to do a periodical gardening newsletter which will include healthy eating ideas, health awareness, tips and recipes for in season fruits and vegetables. ”

    With the introduction of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Program in February 2010, designed to combat childhood obesity, school and community gardens have enjoyed a recent surge in popularity and the yeshiva is looking into grants that may be available to school gardening projects.

    Response from both the parents and the students has been extremely positive with two families assigned to tend the garden each week during the summer. Volunteer families are also given the option of receiving their own plot to garden over the summer. Another gardening day is being planned for later in the summer where parents and students can both weed the gardens and take home freshly grown produce. The remainder of the crop will be donated to Tomchei Shabbos of Rockland County.

    “This has been such an enriching experience for the boys,” commented parent Peshie Needleman, co-director of the gardening project. “Not only has the Darchei Noam family been very enthusiastic about this project but local merchants such as Walmart, Target, Christmas Tree Shops and a local nursery have all donated to the garden. The boys are so thrilled to have an opportunity to be part of something like this.”


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    13 Comments
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    maxedout
    maxedout
    11 years ago

    finally, something else for the kids besides for gemara, gemara, and more gemara. Nice to see that a yeshiva realizes that kids need a break too.

    11 years ago

    Wonderful!

    And since Cornell is Ivy League, so is Yeshiva Darchei Noam. (But we knew that already.)

    ohaiv-yisroel
    ohaiv-yisroel
    11 years ago

    great reporting btw…..

    maxedout
    maxedout
    11 years ago

    Thanks to all of you who agree with me. #3 is a perfect example of why some kids run away. just keep feeding them the same thing over and over and over until they throw up.

    sissel613
    sissel613
    11 years ago

    How wonderful–Kol Hakavod to the school for allowing the kids to see how Hashem creates everything. It’s such an easy way to incorporate this into gemara and chumash. It makes learning Trumos and Maasros and Bikkurim so much easier. Yashar Koach to the yeshiva’s hanhalah –wish Brooklyn schools would do this too.

    ExpatriateOwl
    ExpatriateOwl
    11 years ago

    Actually, this gardening thing can fall into the category of “more gemora,” what with the peah, kilayim, and other parts of gemora which can be explained through the practical exercise of planting, maintaining and harvesting from a garden.

    Nova2
    Nova2
    11 years ago

    What about the girls?