GCS students are looking forward to welcoming visitors, volunteer groups, parents, and anyone who will listen to them proudly lecture about growing fresh fruit and vegetables and learning business management skills. The goal of the GCS Garden Project is threefold:
- Teach our students the fundamentals of growing fresh produce.
- Teach them the health benefits of having access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
- Teach them the business skills of selling their products.
The students will set up fruit stands around town and sell ripe tomatoes and peppers, corn, pumpkins, garlic, spring onions, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, collards, broccoli, colorful sunflowers, watermelons and more. Proceeds will be used to assist with their tuition!
The garden will be designed, planted, maintained and sustained by volunteers and students at GCS.
The GCS Garden Project is a hands-on-learning opportunity for a variety of educational subjects including science, math, history, and economics. Additionally, students are exposed to the concept of where their food comes from, how it grows and what different fruits and vegetables taste like.
Gardens are a fun way to expand student interest and involvement in their own education and their own long-term healthcare. They love being in the garden!
During the summer of 2018, GCS experimented with growing tomatoes and okra. “It was fun to see your plant grow and produce a vegetable that you can eat,” states Lia, a fifth-grade student.
According to Tony C. Duckworth, Sr. (head of GCS), “we are now in an age where the majority of the local population does not grow any of their own food on their own farms or in their own backyards. Most of the local farmers have died, and the few that are living are no longer farming due to age and health issues.”
Most food is purchased at grocery stores, fast food chains, convenience stores or restaurants. The dilemma with purchasing and consuming food from these places is most of the food needs to be transported long distances to its designated location. For that to be achieved, the food must be preserved so it doesn’t rot or spoil in transport. Preservatives are therefore used to allow for transportation, and it is the preservatives which are creating many health problems including diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary disease. Processed food is another concern for our children’s health. Processed food essentially means the food has been altered from its original state and therefore contains preservatives. We are teaching our children to care about their health and what they eat…and having so much fun in the process.
If you would like to sponsor or contribute to the GCS Garden Project, please support Mount Olive Ministries.