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Schoharie Elementary Students
Feed their Hunger with Nutrition
and Education!
October 2008-Sandra Prokop NYFB
& NYFB Foundation
The seed is planted, germinates
and the bounty provides an
education!
The fourth grade students at
Schoharie Central School were
food prep interns on October 1st
as they assisted School food
service director, Josie Ennist,
and her staff in the preparation
of Winter Squash, the same crop
they will harvest from their
“Feed the Hungry” plot at
Schoharie Valley Farms.
The students then
assisted in passing samples to
their fellow students, so they
all could share the local
goodness in celebration of New
York Harvest for New York Kids
and also fitting right in with
fourth grade students “Feed the
Hungry Project”.
Last Spring all third grade
classes planted winter squash
seeds and learned about soil and
seeds.
The seedlings were then
transplanted with a name marker
for each student to their
special plot at the Schoharie
Valley Farms/Carrot Barn. The
crop will be harvested by the
students, teachers, and school
principal, Maryellen Gillis.
The crop will then be
donated to the Northeast
Regional Food Bank
The children became part of the
community network, gaining a
better perception of how their
food arrives at the store and
how they can help those in their
community.
The program also expands
knowledge of the agricultural
food and fiber system and an
understanding that good
nutrition comes from the soil,
as the farming community
provides healthy food for one
and all.
These Schoharie Elementary
students are the pioneers of
this program.
Their “farmer” is Richard
Ball, owner of the Carrot Barn,
located just down the road from
the school.
FFA students from the
Schoharie Valley Chapter were
also involved in the project.
In addition, their
principal, Maryellen Gillis,
attended the “planting” and
worked with the students to
prepare the squash.
Five partnering organizations
sponsor and support this
project.
They include:
New York Farm Bureau, New York Farm Bureau
Foundation, NYS Agricultural
Society, and Cornell Agriculture
Outreach and Education, which
includes Ag in the Classroom and
FFA.
This is a program that truly
“works” for the community,
education and agriculture.
The excitement was capped
with requests to “do another
program” and “prepare some other
recipes with the squash,” plus a
consensus that the squash was
really good…a surprise to many.
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