A new student garden program has sprouted at Edith E. Mackrille School, thanks to a donation from the American Heart Association.

Kids, teachers, parents, West Haven High School peer advocates and American Heart Association representatives planted herbs, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower and more in the fall of 2013 in one of the school’s two courtyards. Mackrille is one of a few schools in the state to be chosen to participate in the association’s Teaching Gardens program.

The initiative, which is sponsored by Covidien, aims to fight childhood obesity, while also teaching youngsters about healthy eating and gardening. The association provided the school with donations worth several hundred dollars, including more than 100 established plants, gardening equipment, raised beds, bags of soil and a camera to document plant growth. Students will now help with watering and monitoring the crops.

The school hopes to use the gardens each year and incorporate them into the science curriculum.

For more information:
Mackrille School launches student garden with donation
Mackrille harvests crops from teaching garden