HINSDALE, N.Y. — At Hinsdale Central School in Cattaraugus County, planting vegetables is not just a lesson on food but also about teaching kids how to help others in need.
Christine Goodling is a third-grade teacher at the school and is also a gardener at heart.
As a hands-on experience for her students, she decided to pass her love of gardening onto the next generation by teaching them how to grow 11 different vegetables.
“They are so excited; they can’t wait to come to school every day.”
“We’re going to dig up some holes, put some seeds in there, then we have to wait a little before and let them grow,” said one of Goodling’s students Aria Miller.
Once the vegetables were ready to harvest, Goodling used the food to make fun dishes to cook and share with her class.
However, they realized that they had grown much more than they could eat.
“We contacted the Hinsdale Food Pantry and they said ‘yes, we would love fresh food.’” Goodling said. “We probably gave them about 100 pounds of produce.”
The harvest from the school garden was so plentiful it took several kids to carry each of the three full baskets of food they were donating to their local food pantry.
A worthy cause that all of her students we’re happy to help take part in.
“I was excited cause some people can’t afford their own food,” said Skeyelar Jablonski.
“I’ve always dreamed of helping people, and I finally did it,” Miller said.
“We can help people that don’t have much money to buy stuff,” said Carson Lockwood.
Goodling’s students loved the experience so much that they can’t wait to do it again and hopefully donate even more next year.
