Besides reading, writing and ‘rithmatic, students at Kent’s Holden Elementary School get regular gardening lessons.
Each grade is responsible for one garden plot on the south side of the school, said Holden fifth grade teacher Janet Longanecker, who coordinates students in grades one through five with volunteers from Portage County Master Gardeners. The plots are about 8-by-4 feet in size, and the lessons are year-round.
“We garden throughout the school year, even with cold frames in the winter, and they do lessons throughout the school year, and then in the summer we have a summer camp,” Longanecker said.
The garden is about 15 years old, but this year received some much-needed love.
Roosevelt High School teacher Don Titko and his Construction Technologies class built cold frames and attached covers that automatically open and close to provide ventilation and prevent overheating. His colleague Kyle Kutinsky’s Forestry and Environmental Studies class installed the cold frames and added muscle to garden cleanup.
Kent-based Bigtime Renovations donated employee time to build a fence to dissuade deer and groundhogs.
“It is looking beautiful. It looks like a garden we can be proud of again, “ Longanecker said, singling out Portage County Master Gardeners for their ideas, fundraising efforts and practical help.
Holden’s garden curriculum expanded to a free summer camp for fourth and fifth graders last year, but all students in grades one through five are welcome this year. Registration is not necessary: students just need to show up at Holden Thursday mornings at 9:30 a.m. Camp is over shortly before noon.
After introducing the week’s theme and leading students in movement activities, campers break into three groups. Jill Halligan, Portage County 4-H’s program assistant for school enrichment, provides a lesson that includes food tastings. Volunteer Portage Master Gardeners guide the children as they tend their plots and lead games that relate to each week’s focus.
About 14 students participate in each session, and there’s room for more, Longanecker said.
To be honored at a July 25 event at Holden are Kent’s Bigtime Renovations, which allowed employee George Darlas time to build the garden’s fence; 4-H educator Halligan and intern Hannah Kennedy for planning weekly lessons and presenting them to Holden students at garden camp; former 4-H educator Jesseca Housel for initiating the garden’s first summer camp in 2023; Birdsong Farms for providing plants and teaching Holden’s second graders how to raise them; and Thomas-Anderson Memorial Garden founder Doria Daniels for presenting gardening information to Holden’s first graders.
Also to be recognized are Kent Environmental Council for providing $1,000 for deer fence materials; Portage County Retired Teachers Association for providing $500 for grow lights, peat pots, seed starting mix and heat mats; Portage County Master Gardeners for its $500 Teacher Grant for cold frame materials; and Lynn Vogel of Portage County Soil and Water for soil testing consulting.
Kent resident Linda Wood will also be honored for providing produce and guiding fencing plans, Gardeners of Greater Akron will be honored for its $125 gift for openers for the cold frames, Garden Club of Kent for plant donations and the Anthony Petitti Organic Greenhouse will be thanked for providing seeds at a discounted rate.
The recognitions will begin at 10:30 a.m. July 25, when Longanecker will give a recognition certificate to all garden campers. Volunteers and donors will be recognized at 11 a.m., either at the garden, under shade trees or, in case of rain, in Longanecker’s classroom.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.