Friday, March 2, 2012

Seeds for Schools Winner #8 - Woolmarket Elementary

Woolmarket Elementary School
Biloxi, MS
# of Students: 581
Gardening Since: 2009

Woolmarket Elementary school is a rural, county school within the Biloxi city limits. Founded in 1910 as the first consolidated school in the state, it currently has an enrollment of 581 students made up of grades Kindergarten through 6th.

Shirley Hardman, a teacher at Woolmarket, and the submitter of the application to our Seeds for Schools program, said the idea for a school garden came a little more than 3 years ago when her classroom was moved to another room that was next to the neglected courtyard.

“We decided to make it an extension of our classroom,” said Ms. Hardman. “This gives students a chance to interact and establish relationships in a stress free beautiful environment.”

This year Woolmarket was able to raise enough funds to add in a pond and touts the entire outdoor project as a hands on science environment which will increase interest in environmental stewardship.

As a side note, after this was written, Ms. Hardman informed me that WLOX ABC out of Biloxi visited the school and did a news broadcast on Woolmarket winning the seeds. She said the kids absolutely loved the experience and now can’t wait to get their hands dirty and grow some fresh fruits, veggies and herbs.

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