Bethune Early Childhood Development Center Cultivates a Love of Learning and Fresh Produce

Nestled within the industrial landscape of Gary, Indiana, the Bethune Early Childhood Development Center is nurturing a natural haven for young learners – a school garden. This initiative, made possible by a grant from the Indiana Department of Health through Purdue University’s Extension Program for Nutrition, has transformed a part of the school grounds into a living classroom, furthering the STEM-focused curriculum and offering students an opportunity to spend time outdoors, foster healthy habits, and discover the joy of growing their own food. 

Students at Bethune Early Childhood Development Center gather around a raised garden bed, excited to get their hands in the dirt and learn about fall seed planting.

A class lines up excitedly to visit the school gardens, learn about planting, and harvest some fall vegetables.

Jennifer Johnson from Audubon Great Lakes reads "Fall Harvest Fun" to students to prepare them for the fall planting activities.

Erin Sherrow-Hayes from the Purdue Extension-Nutrition Education Program holds up fall tomatoes picked by the students as they eagerly search for more to harvest.

This was a first-time exposure to gardens for many students, and after the raised beds were constructed and the soil delivered, there was apprehension about touching the dirt, even amongst the most excited. “Any class could come out and plant, but at first, they didn't want to get their hands dirty. Once I started digging through and pulling the dirt out and talking about it, that changed,” recalls occupational therapist Deborah Surface. Students simply needed someone to ease their worries. After Surface showed them what to do, they were ready to dive right in. “They smelled the dirt, and they felt the dirt. I think we even had a few try to taste the dirt,” she remembers. 

Surface has led the charge in maintaining the garden and has been learning right alongside the students. “I tried to grow things people would use,” says Surface. Her efforts paid off, and summer brought a magical transformation. Thanks to watering and tending from summer staff members, the garden flourished, bursting with an abundance of herbs, tomatoes, collards, zucchini, flowers, melons, and more. “We had to get the ladder out to pick the cucumbers and green beans growing up to the top of a 17-foot sunflower in one of our garden beds,” says Surface. The students, returning from their break, were greeted by a lush garden ready for

harvest. Even the adults were excited. “One of the teachers made zucchini bread every week from what we grew in the garden,” she recalls. 

As the garden continued to thrive, interest in the garden grew as well. “Four classes did the planting, but when we came back, everybody went to the garden because it’s next to the playground,” says principal Erica Glenn. “They would come over and look at it, and their teachers would show them the different plants and the produce that were in there.” 

When the vegetables, fruits, and herbs were ready to harvest, the students had the chance to pick some things and taste food fresh from the plant. “The kids loved it. We had an abundance of cherry tomatoes, and we let them harvest them because they're small. They were so sweet and tasty that we ate them like grapes,” says Glenn. The rest of the produce was put on a communal table where staff, parents, and students were able to easily access them and take things home. 

Deborah Surface helps a student harvest cherry tomatoes growing underneath the towering 17-foot sunflowers in the Bethune school garden.

Beyond the educational benefits, the garden has encouraged families and community members to come to experience the joy of gardening with teachers and students – tending to the plants, sharing knowledge, and celebrating the harvest together. To prepare for their fall garden and help students learn about planting, Jennifer Johnson from Audubon Great Lakes read Fall Harvest Fun by Martha E. H. Rustad to students, and Erin Sherrow-Hayes from the Purdue Extension-Nutrition Education Program came out to offer expertise and lend her support to the project. 

Looking ahead, the future of the Bethune Early Childhood Development Center garden is brimming with possibilities. Surface is already taking the lessons she’s learned in the garden and is ready for next season. “I’ve started collecting seeds and looking forward to next year,” says Surface. One major goal is to get even more students involved in the growing, whether that would entail assigning specific garden beds to individual classes or having students to start seedlings in cups before planting them in the garden in spring. “We try to teach the students not just by reading them books, but by actually giving them something tangible that they can see and experience,” says Glenn. “We want to nurture projects like the garden so that the children can have real life experiences. We live in an urban area and many students don't have gardens, so it's a good project for them to have ownership of.” 

Thanks to the grant funding from the Indiana Department of Health and the Purdue Extension - Nutrition Education Program, Bethune Early Childhood Development Center students are able witness the magic of nature firsthand in an environment where it’s harder to come by and learn valuable lessons about where their food comes from. The garden and other outdoor programs at the school remind us that even amidst an urban environment, seeds of curiosity, connection, and healthy eating can flourish and grow.