Crossroads High School cuts ribbon on campus garden

By MANDI MILLER 
Special to Leader-Press 

Crossroads High School held a ribbon cutting for its first ever student-created vegetable garden. Inspiration for the project came from former Crossroads High School student Shyla Roberts. Roberts expressed an interest in agriculture and horticulture as her future career goals, with a focus in both ornamental and edible plants. 
“This project presented me with the opportunity to get actual experience as well as provide healthy produce for my fellow classmates,” Roberts said.
The garden provides Roberts and students serving on the garden team a project that allows them to engage in the different educational disciplines including math, economics, physical fitness, and science. Students participated in the entire cycle of the process including building the planting boxes, the delicate process of moving seedlings to beds, and ultimately to a collecting a sustainable harvest. Additionally, the garden provides life lessons such as cooking nutritious meals to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Semaj Trice, a member of the garden team, has managed the garden for the 2021-2022 school year. 
“Gardening has always been a hobby for me,” Trice said. “Witnessing nature like this has given me lessons that I don’t get in a classroom. It’s also a great feeling to be able to provide food for some of my classmates.”
Through school gardens, students experience the rewards of fresh produce and the process that brings them to fruition. They learn to understand the natural growth of plants — from seeds to sprouts to flowers to fruits — and the impact that rain, drought, and other forces of nature have on plant life. Students learn firsthand the connection between nature, their own food supply, and the pollinators and other creatures their school garden ecosystem attracts and supports.
Crossroads staff member, Yaritza Palau, has helped with the project and believes it is important for students to connect with nature. 
“Most people just get their food from the supermarket and never question how it came to be,” Palau said. “It is an honor and privilege to grow your own food and grow for someone else.”
The garden, dubbed Backyard Botanicals, is built in elevated beds in Crossroad’s courtyard, making use of an unoccupied space. Roberts felt that the space was a perfect location because it receives plenty of sunlight and requires no weeding. 
“It’s perfect for busy students,” Roberts said.
Research shows that students who participate in garden-based science curriculum, in addition to traditional classroom learning, score significantly higher on science achievement tests than students in a traditional classroom-based control group. 
-This garden-enhanced achievement benefits both male and female students equally. By their nature, school gardens encourage teamwork, individual responsibility, and a commitment to success.