Greenacres coming to Gravesend
Nov 26, 2009 11:22 AM
Edible Schoolyard project at PS 216, Brooklyn
Some of the team behind the project — (from left) Sasha Loberg of the Friends Committee of Edible Schoolyard New York City; Assistant Principal Susan Glazer; Edible Schoolyard President Brett Williams; John Lyons, film producer and “principal for a day” at PS 216 who helped bring the program to the school; UFT District 20 Representative Judy Gerowitz; Principal Celia Kaplinksy, a strong advocate for innovative programs; and Integrated Curriculum and Instruction Network Leader Wendy Karp.
The asphalt playground at PS 216 in Gravesend, Brooklyn, is about to go from ugly ducking to swan, as it is transformed into a quarter-acre organic farm, the likes of which have never been seen before in New York City.
We’re talking a “four-seasons greenhouse” with removable roof to extend the growing season year ’round; a “ramada” for children to sit in with photovoltaic panels that convert solar radiation into electricity, a roof system that collects rainwater, a kitchen classroom for cooking their garden bounty, and more.
“This is a fabulous opportunity,” veteran Chapter Leader Kathy Klein said. “In our school, we have children who don’t know that food doesn’t come out of a box or can. There are vegetables and fruits they’ve never seen. They’ll have the opportunity to work in the garden, plant, harvest, cook and eat what they grow.”
This will be the first Edible Schoolyard in New York, and it’s part of the Edible Schoolyard Foundation created by visionary chef/eat local guru Alice Waters, of Chez Panisse fame. Her first schoolyard garden was in an underserved school in her Berkeley hometown; another was recently started in New Orleans. Now Brooklyn is poised to carry on the model.
But first the project had to overcome some neighborhood resistance. There were concerns about rodents being attracted to the garden, and the idea of raising chickens didn’t go over too well, either.
This is what PS 216’s Edible Schoolyard will look like when completed. For more information and renderings of the project, visit www.esynyc.org.
“We went to the community board, the principal and myself, at the end of September, to speak about the project,” Klein said. “They wound up voting in favor of it, after seeing the presentation.”
The community will also be invited to participate in the garden, she said, adding that with all the diversity in the neighborhood, “it will be a tremendous learning experience.”
All aspects of the curriculum will relate to the edible garden, from math and measurements to science, social studies, reading and writing, Klein said.
“For students to have the experience of seeing a strawberry grow from the ground, that will be new,” she said. They may recognize the flavors, but for many city kids, how fruits and vegetables grow is something of a mystery.
PS 216 houses a diverse population of 471 students in grades K-5, with 100 percent of the students qualifying for free lunch, and 16 percent English language learners.
The design behind the project will be just as innovative as the project itself: the award-winning WORK Architecture Company, which recently designed the Museum of Modern Art’s Public Farm 1 in Queens, will be designing the sustainable systems.
“It’s a wonderful, innovative idea to bring gardening to Brooklyn schoolchildren,” said Judy Gerowitz, UFT District 21 representative.