Something amazingly wonderful happened the other night at a small school that serves a small city in central Maine. Let me back up and give you some background that led up to this evening.
Last week the teachers at the small elementary school spent their days teaching, their “off time” preparing report cards, and their evenings staying late for parent teacher conferences. This week national testing began. These few weeks are the most emotionally and physically draining for the staff. They are the most challenging and the most stressful for staff and students. Yet, in the middle of all this, the teachers and staff managed to put together an evening designed for the children and their families to come learn simple ways to include healthy activities and eating into their family lives. Families are very busy too. Juggling work and school and family time is no easy feat. Yet it is carried out every single day by our families and families across the country. That’s what made this event so unique and special. So many adults who love these children altered their days and squeezed in yet one more thing to spend quality time together at their small school learning how to be a little more healthy.
This is what love looks like. The children looked happy, the parents and siblings looked happy, the teachers, secretaries, cafeteria staff, administrators…they all looked so happy. Because it was for the children.
Research overwhelming shows that children who garden, play outside, and cook with healthy foods are happier, healthier, and learn better. This school, with full school board support, has worked for ten years to provide these opportunities for the children. They have all worked together to get this amazing program where it is today. And this evening’s event shows how powerful of a program it is.
Thank you teachers, staff, and parents for providing such a wonderful opportunity for your children. The children are truly blessed. During a time when our country is coming apart at the seams, you shine a light on all that is good and you remind us of the love that is so generously shared.
May your gardens and children grow strong and healthy and my your children bloom with your love and dedication. Much love and appreciation.
Mary
PS – I cannot post this without a call for all who live in this town to call your school board members and school administrators and beg them to keep this program going. There are grants that are ending and it will take a dedicated and committed community effort to keep this amazing garden and program going for all the 4th and 5th grade students of this community. Their FB page is here. Thank you.
Messages From the Heart 