Growing Gardeners: A New Partnership Takes Root at Staples High School

 

     The Greens Farms Garden Club's Growing for Good project is cultivating something new: a partnership with Staples High School's horticulture program through its Growing Gardeners initiative.

     The connection began when club member Maybette Waldron reached out to horticulture teacher Carrie Tait to introduce Growing for Good and invite students to volunteer at Prospect Gardens, where vegetables are grown for families facing food insecurity. Several local high school students volunteered during the summer.

     On September 23, landscape designer Cindy Shumate visited Carrie's horticulture class to discuss careers in landscape design. Maybette and Jude Smith, co-chairs of Growing for Good, joined her to share their gardening experiences and encourage student participation.

     Afterward, a tour of the school's greenhouse revealed an unexpected sight. Instead of a greenhouse filled with greenery, they found stainless-steel tables, chairs, hoses, and gardening equipment—and a small flat of 2-inch seedlings.

     The greenhouse had undergone a thorough cleaning over the summer following a plant infection, leaving the space empty and ready for a fresh start.

     The garden club quickly responded with a call for plant donations. Within two weeks, approximately 50 plants had been collected from club members, Cindy Shumate, Prospect Gardens gardener Judy Gardener, and the Fairfield Plant Exchange.

     On October 2, Maybette and club president Jacque O'Brien delivered the plants to Staples, where students eagerly carried them into their greenhouse.

What began as a volunteer outreach effort has grown into a promising partnership, with opportunities for students to gain hands-on gardening experience and perhaps help start seeds for Growing for Good during the winter months.

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Through Growing Gardeners, the club hopes to nurture not only plants, but the next generation of gardeners.