(2012 photo from Denny garden’s early days)

Tomorrow is a big day of volunteering around the area. If you’re not already committed elsewhere – the Little Red Hen Project and Denny International Middle School Science Department invite you to join them in the work of reviving the school’s Learning Garden. As one parent put it:

The Denny Learning garden will provide our kids with more than just tomatoes. In this garden, kids will have a hands-on learning experience, giving a real, tangible understanding to the lessons that are taught at their desks.

Kids and parents at Denny will reap the rewards of community building as the lessons of biology mix together with the lessons of teamwork and patience. Departments will “adopt” the garden for a month to maintain the upkeep, as the Little Red Hen Project (LRHP) provides the consulting toward growing a garden that can teach our kids the lessons that can’t be taught with an iPad.

High School Students can earn service hours on campus by taking on leadership positions. After school programs can be held in the plaza at the garden, or in the amphitheater, which faces a native bioswale.

If (when) we get the project infrastructure in place, we may also be able to provide a place for troubled students can option, rather than detention, so instead of staring at their thumbs in detention hall, kids can watch their thumbs turn green.

The Little Red Hen Project also points out that this is about food justice, one of the great divides in our area and elsewhere, “a problem that impacts our youth the most, as kids go to school without proper nutrition, which leads to a decline in grades and mood. The Little Red Hen Project is dedicated to reaching our community families to teach each other how proper food can lead to a better future.” The community’s help is needed, LRHP notes, “to make this garden grow.” Denny is at 2601 SW Kenyon, and tomorrow’s work is scheduled 11 am-4 pm – so there’s time to drop in even if you’re going to be at a Duwamish Alive! work party until 2.