Pre-K students plant gardens

Courtesy Photo | Christian T. plants sunflowers for the Pierce Terrace Elementary School garden. (Photo by Robbie Howard)  

FORT JACKSON, SC, UNITED STATES

03.28.2024

Courtesy Story

Fort Jackson Public Affairs Office

By Lorraine Emory
Pierce Terrace Elementary School

Part of the curriculum for the Pre-K program at Pierce Terrace Elementary School involves planting a garden in March.

The students had “hands-on opportunities from digging, planting, watering, and weeding,” said Patricia Jolly, Pre-K teacher. The garden starts indoors with seedlings and move to outdoor planters.

Pre-K teachers set expectations and anticipation high in learning with students by highlighting a handmade over-sized bulletin board and an 8-foot, three-dimensional tree with blossoms in the school’s front corridor.

This unstructured lesson includes many sensory exercises that call on knowledge across all developmental and cognitive areas.

Together, they planned, carried out, and solved problems while continuing to apply rich language, reading, and math abilities. Through this lesson, they could explore their inherent curiosity about the world around them and use their imaginations. Gardens educate us about caring for people and foster a feeling of community.

Robbie Howard, Pre-K assistant, said, “Each child selected seeds to plant and checked their flowerpots daily.”

The success of this project was not just the result of the student’s hard work but also a testament to the strong community spirit at PTES.

Several Marines stationed at Fort Jackson and Department of Defense Education Activity school employee Robert White volunteered their time and skills to build the outdoor planters.

These planters, made from recycled pallets, symbolize our shared commitment to the student’s education and well-being.

“This is always a favorite each year,” Jolly said.

• Date Taken: 03.28.2024
• Date Posted: 03.28.2024 09:53
• Story ID: 467231
• Location: FORT JACKSON, SC, US