The excitement was palpable as Rose MacKenzie, principal of Mamquam Elementary, wearing gumboots and carrying a rake, strode purposefully into her school’s playground on Friday afternoon.
“It is very, very exciting,” MacKenzie said, not for the first time since the Sea to Sky school board approved the Mamquam Elementary School Edible Schoolyard program two days earlier, on Feb. 11.
As the principal headed out to the school yard Friday, the final bell had just rung, ending the school day. Johanna Proudfoot, Mamquam parent advisory council chair, Krystle tenBrink and Ashley Dodd, both with Squamish Climate Action Network, flanked MacKenzie.
A gaggle of curious and surprised backpack-clad students quickly formed a line and followed the four blonde women into an open area that is, for now, just a swath of patchy grass.
All of the ideas for the garden program are still being fleshed out, MacKenzie said, but so far, the plan is for there to be about 30 garden boxes – 12 would be for the classes at Mamquam and the remainder would be available for playschools . There will be an area of dirt for free play and an area for water play, plus a sandbox, wind chimes, bridges, a treehouse, an outdoor classroom and a greenhouse.
“I am big on experiential learning,” MacKenzie said. “I am big on hands-on, getting right into it. I think a garden provides creativity. I think it is a wonderful way to integrate…. learning about the life cycle, to read about gardening, to write about gardening.”
The project will be completed in three phases, with the garden boxes first, then the outdoor classroom and finally the greenhouse.
According to MacKenzie, observing is one of the most powerful ways children learn and the garden will provide ample opportunities to observe.
“I can’t wait to go out there at recess and lunchtime,” she said. “One day they may notice a little bud there and then next day there is a little flower, who knows, but that comes from observation.”
Dodd will be the onsite manager of the gardens once they are up and growing, so that task won’t put more strain on already jam-packed schedules of teachers, MacKenzie said. Having an onsite manager will help cover the care of the garden when school is not in session.
Both Dodd and tenBrink grew up on farms, but many people in Squamish are not connected to the land and their food sources, the women said.
“Not everybody here has a backyard with a garden plot,” said Proudfoot, whose two children attend Mamquam Elementary. “I personally live in a townhouse and our backyard is common area. I don’t even have a fenced area, so I don’t have the ability to have a garden.”
The project is a collaboration between the school, Squamish Climate Action Network, Wildlife BC and Platypus Daycare. The groups received a one-time grant of $15,000 from Vancouver Coastal Health’s SMART Fund.
Donations are being accepted to fundraise for phase two and three of the project. Cheques can be made out to Squamish CAN (Edible Schoolyard) and either mailed to PO Box 3152, Garibaldi Highlands, B.C., V0N 1T0 or dropped off at the front desk at the Mamquam School during regular hours.
