MEDIA ADVISORY                                                

Media contacts: Barb DeGroot, Arboretum PR Specialist, 952-443-1459

Monica Foss, Cedar Park Elementary School, 952-431-8360

Community Build Day at Cedar Park School Celebrates Gardening

            Chanhassen, MN (April 20, 2009) - Biology is either a dry textbook or it’s the grand adventure of digging in the earth, planting seeds and watching new life spring forth before your eyes. 

            The students at Cedar Park Elementary in Apple Valley are discovering the joys of plants and gardening, thanks to a new partnership with the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  This Saturday, April 25, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cedar Park students, teachers and families will come together for a “community build day” to construct a raised-bed garden on school grounds, working with plans developed by the arboretum’s education staff. 

            On Saturday, 10 raised-bed gardens will be built and filled with soil.  Later this spring, they will be planted with vegetables and flowers. Elevating the garden makes it more accessible to students in wheelchairs and less accessible to rabbits and other hungry critters. It also is less likely to be overrun by energetic feet in the schoolyard.

            It’s all part of Cedar Park’s focus on hands-on instruction as a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) magnet school. “The Arboretum is able to offer expertise on gardening and biology and how it relates to children. They were able to train our staff on how to incorporate gardening and plant science into our curriculum,” said Monica Foss, a Cedar Park teacher.  “Our teachers participated in a daylong training workshop at the arboretum this spring. It was an amazing day of learning.”

            Randy Gage, Arboretum Partnership Coordinator, says the Cedar Park project represents the Arboretum’s mission “of linking people, plants and the earth by creating opportunities for children, educators, and families to discover and share knowledge about plants.  This project is really exciting because it represents the interest and initiative of the entire school community and it’s happening right in their own schoolyard.  Our role is to take the passion and interest of the school and add our plant know-how to create a successful and sustainable garden that helps to bring plant learning to life at the school.”  

            The Arboretum has a long history of partnering with schools through its Partnership for Growing Science Teaching initiative.  Partnership activities include standards-based fieldtrips for students, workshops for teachers, and assistance with designing schoolyard learning habitats.  Interested schools are invited to inquire about the possibilities of an Arboretum Partnership.

            Foss says the school community is so excited about the Saturday event, they’ve expanded it to include other activities and information booths on environmental issues.   The Cedar Park Parent-Teacher Association also is participating and school families are invited to drop in throughout the day.                                         

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