Class Garden Boxes

All Ascension Lutheran classes have their own garden boxes.

The students learn to plant, care for, and harvest vegetables. Additionally, they gain invaluable life lessons about nutrition, caring for and interacting with the environment. Ascension students are gifted numerous opportunities to explore with their senses through touch, smell, and taste.

Kindergarten and TK

The "Touch Feely" Garden Box

The students are encouraged to pick the plants they have harvested from seed and observe the tactile input from different textures.

Examples of plants used:

Panda Plant

Lambs Ear

Aramble

Sedum Reflexum Angelina

Many students naturally put the textures against their faces.

Kindergarten and 1st Grade

The "Smelly" Garden Box

The students are encouraged to pick the plants and flowers they have harvested from seed and observe the olfactory input from different textures.

Examples of plants used:

Sweet Pea

Lavender

Alyssum

The students then were able to create floral arrangements with their flowers to bring home.

2nd Grade

The "Root Vegetable" Box

The students are encouraged to pick the vegetables they have harvested from seed and experiment with taste from the stew made by their teacher.

Examples of plants used:

Carrots

Potatoes

Onion

Kohlrabi

Many students showed enthusiasm for what they had grown and went back for second and third helpings of stew.

3rd Grade

The "Salad Garden" Box

The students are encouraged to pick the vegetables they have harvested from seed and experiment with taste from the salad they made together.

Examples of plants used:

Include a variety of lettuces and greens

Hothouse cucumbers

Tomatoes

4th Grade

The "Edible Flower Garden" Box

The students are encouraged to pick the flowers from the plants they have harvested from seed and experiment with design and taste on cupcakes.

Examples of plants used:

Nasturtium

Pansies

Chocolate Daisy

All of the students made multiple cupcakes, using their tactile and visual senses to decorate each cupcake uniquely. The activity provided a creative opportunity for students to express themselves, work collaboratively, and engage with their environment in a successful way.

5th Grade

The "Victory Garden" Box

This box in particular aligned with in-class lessons being taught. The 5th grade is learning about American History and the impact of Victory Gardens during WW11. With older grades, the application of knowledge from the garden boxes may be utilized to teach societal and historical lessons along with sensory development and life skills. The class chose their favorite vegetables to be planted in the box.

6th Grade

The "Ruth's Gleaning Garden" Box

The students are encouraged to pick from the plants they have harvested from seed and share with the food pantry on Friday's. Students learn about Ruth in the Bible and the concept of 'gleaning'. Students are able to connect to the community and support others through their labor and education of gardening.