Garden History at Lincoln Elementary School
Written by Theresa Vinoski, Green Bay Area Public Schools teacher at Lincoln Elementary School
Lincoln Elementary students plant a salsa-themed garden
The NFL 2010 season was an exciting one for the Green Bay Packers. That year, they won the Super Bowl. That year was also a special win for Lincoln Elementary School on Buchanan Street in Green Bay, WI. Lincoln was the recipient of four raised bed gardens, a small greenhouse and playground equipment, all from the NFL, because of the Packers win. The gardens were built and installed by NFL volunteers including past players, the current NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, and others. It was truly celebrated by the teachers, students, parents and all who were associated with the school.
These gifts were a surprise and there were no plans for how to use them. Initially, the gardens were used by teachers as extensions of their Einstein kits and other science projects in their classrooms. Also, one of the teachers worked with her daughter’s Girl Scout troop to build a butterfly garden as a supplement to the raised bed gardens. Each year, the gardens were really not a focus for any one classroom. Many teachers took turns to plant, but there was no true plan to what we were doing.
Part of Lincoln's harvest from their salsa-themed garden
In 2016, I started researching programs that could support our gardens. As teachers, we are flooded with emails from so many organizations trying to sell us something for our school/classrooms. That year, there was a local organization who supplied us with a checklist of items we would need for Gardening with Kids. I filled out the form in detail, and right before the end of the school year, some items showed up at school that we really didn’t need. Rather than feeling rejected, I continued on my search for the perfect partnership to facilitate successful gardening at Lincoln. I continued searching for a match and came up empty handed over and over again.
During the 2018-2019 school year, I filled out yet one more form. This time it was with the New Leaf Garden Blitz. I also replied to an email from a Nutrition Educator for FoodWIse, a nutrition education curriculum taught by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension Brown County. By getting in touch with these two programs, I didn’t have to wonder what we could do with the gardens. Sarah Chishom, Karen Early, Jayne Rising and I met, came up with a plan for the gardens, and shared thoughts of future plans. That year, we had educational programs delivered by the experts, Sarah and Jayne. The education was both in the classroom and the garden.
In May, Garden Blitz volunteers delivered much needed organic soil to add to our beds. My Fifth grade students were very helpful and felt like this was truly “their project.” They filled wheelbarrows full of soil and delivered it to the beds. Our ultimate goal was to plant our four gardens, which we did. We planted a variety of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and greens including kale, leaf lettuce, an herb garden, and a flower garden. Planting day was so amazing for the students and I, because having expert advice made all the difference. The students' enthusiasm was hard to contain at times, but their passion for the project was evident.
Students successfully made (and enjoyed!) their salsa
During the 2018-2019 school year, the 5th grade class planted and then the 2019-2020 class reaped the harvest. The theme of the garden was “Salsa” so with the harvest, the students made salsa and as they made it, the classroom was silenced. The students took turns cleaning, cutting, and preparing all of the fresh ingredients. When the salsa was done, the students shared a delicious indulgence. No one could get their fill. After the students cleared the gardens, Jayne came back and did an educational program about crops that take a long time to grow. With Jayne’s expert advice, students planted garlic.
As we all know, the next planting season, educational programming ended with the Covid pandemic. The 2020 - 2021 school year began the same way the prior school year ended…..pandemic...no students allowed in school. I received a message from Sarah wondering if I was interested in virtual programming. Instantly I confirmed a very strong “YES”, and both 5th grade classrooms received five weeks of educational programming featuring Nutrition and Gardening. The students were virtually joined in our Zoom classroom by Jayne and Sarah. The students planted greens and watched them grow each week as well.
Unfortunately, at this same time, I was informed that our gardens had been removed by the Green Bay Area Public Schools Building and Grounds committee. They did this to make room for additional parking. I was completely caught off guard. During Covid, I had not been at school at all and no one shared that information with me. Once I heard the news, I contacted our new principal and the custodial staff to find out more information. I was given contact information for Josh Depouw of Building and Grounds and had a short conversation with him. He indicated enthusiastic support for building the new Lincoln Gardens.
The tireless efforts of Master Gardener and Garden Blitz volunteer Jayne Rising have invigorated Lincoln School's gardens
On January 13, 2021, Jayne (Master Gardener), Sarah and Karen (Brown County Extension FoodWIse), Tami Cornette (Garden Blitz), Anna (my 5th-grade partner), Josh (GBAPS), and I met via ZOOM to talk about the new Lincoln Gardens. It was incredible to have the support of the Garden Blitz and the Extension to discuss this new endeavor. Our gardens will again have four raised beds with a new feature: a paved surface surrounding them to enable wheelchair-accessible gardening.
Currently, Jayne is planning our gardens with us, starting some seedlings, and preparing some more virtual educational plans. Her tireless efforts have invigorated our gardens. The gardens will be constructed this spring, our order is in for soil from the Green Bay Garden Blitz and we are anxiously waiting to hear from businesses regarding donations. This Garden Dream is possible because of donations and the love of gardens. This will be an extremely unusual year to plant a garden, but we will have gardens and that’s what matters most of all. This was all made possible because of our partnership with the New Leaf Garden Blitz and Brown County Extension FoodWIse.
