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Several schools in the Christina School
District are involved in the Healthy Food
for Healthy Kids, Inc. initiative begun last
year in the District by Healthy Food for
Healthy Kids founder and director, Dr.
Thianda Manzara. In this unique
program, students plant school gardens and
harvest and eat the produce they grow.
Gardens have been planted for the second
year at Marshall and Keene Elementary
Schools, and were initiated for the first
time this year at Stubbs and Brader
Elementary Schools.
Marshall’s project includes the help of many
in the community. The Marshall garden,
which consists of eight 4’ x 8’ raised beds,
was funded by a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education
Grant and built with the help of Healthy
Food for Healthy Kids, Inc., in cooperation
with the District’s
Child Nutrition Services department and Marshall
staff, families, and students. Lessons are
tied into the science curricula and allow
all grade levels to take a part in the
growing process. Students prepared the soil
and planted spinach, lettuce, arugula,
turnip and radish seeds in April. Funding
for future maintenance needs of the garden
was received from the Produce Marketing
Association. Recently, Marshall students and
staff harvested their produce, and had such
success that they were able to donate
vegetables to the Food Bank of Delaware and
to several other schools in the District.
The students received the following letter
from the manager at the Kirk Middle School
cafeteria:
Dear Marshall Children and Staff:
The children and staff at Kirk Middle
School, Sterck School for the Deaf, Jennie
Smith Elementary,
Delaware Autism Program (DAP) and Parkway
Academy would like to say "Thank You " for
sharing the most delicious and beautiful
greens that you grew.
The cafeteria workers at Kirk used the
vegetables to make chef salads for all of
the above schools. In
addition to that, we all served it as our
tossed salad, which was on yesterday’s menu.
We applaud each of you for the excellent job
you achieved with your garden. Your veggies
rule the
Food Pyramid.
With many thanks,
Miss Diane,
Kirk Cafeteria Manager
Stubbs, Marshall, and Brader Elementary
Schools are also sharing a part of their
upcoming harvest with the Food Bank of
Delaware through the “Plant a Row for the
Hungry” campaign. This community outreach
program encourages everyone in the community
to plant an extra row of vegetables, herbs
or flowers as a contribution to those in
need.
The mission of Healthy Foods for Healthy
Kids is to inspire and motivate youth to
develop lifelong wholesome eating habits by
helping them experience the joy of growing,
cooking, and enjoying garden-fresh produce.
The school gardens are part of the CNS
Education Cultivation project, which is one
of the initiatives of the CSD Wellness
Policy.
Click here to learn more about the
Christina School District's Wellness Policy.
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