Greenfield, Hancock and Peterborough elementary schools have partnered with the Cornucopia Project of Peterborough to provide hands-on “edible education” to students.

The Cornucopia Project is a local nonprofit organization that provides hands-on garden and nutrition education to nine elementary schools and 4,000 New Hampshire residents annually. The elementary schools have partnered with the organization to bring hands-on learning activities to students’ science curriculum.

This past spring, first-grade students at GES, HES and PES began their work with Cornucopia to prepare their living classrooms, the school gardens, by planting and nurturing their crops. This fall, the students ー now in second grade ー are exploring the effects of good and harmful garden critters, harvesting the potato crop they planted in the spring, making ranch with the garden’s herbs and tasting fresh garden vegetables such as chives, parsley, kale, corn, carrots, peas and radishes.

Students engage in lessons taught by Cornucopia representatives and learn about where their food comes from, how it grows, about living organisms and the life cycle of plants. After each plant and garden learning lesson, students head to the gardens to complete a variety of tasks including weeding, harvesting, watering and debugging that supplement their analysis.

Students have been keeping journals of their predictions, discoveries and observations.

“The Cornucopia Project brings nutritional education to students in the Monadnock region, providing them with a direct connection to their food source through hands-on science and nutrition-based lessons,” stated Cornucopia Education Specialist Olivia Clark. “This spring at the ConVal elementary schools, first-graders planted seeds and seedlings, learning about the lifecycle of vegetable plants and how to nurture them. As second-graders, they have returned to their living classroom to finish the 'garden cycle,' further investigating the garden environment.”

Students at Hancock Elementary finished their work with Cornucopia by cooking up a harvest dinner for their families, peers and HES staff.

“ConVal’s partnership with the Cornucopia Project allows our students to take charge of their learning and have fun while doing it. The students love each lesson, and cannot wait to get outside to tend to the garden each week,” stated Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders. “We cannot thank Cornucopia enough for this wonderful partnership!”