By Nance Ebert, Contributing Writer
Northborough – Now in its fourth year, Food Day is a nationwide movement that gets people to really think about food, where it comes from, and ways to eat healthier.
Algonquin Regional High School (ARHS) joined in the Food Day festivities, which is held annually Oct. 24, by offering food samples made with fresh vegetables and herbs from their garden, giving garden tours, and enjoying the research projects that were set up around the perimeter of the classrooms.
“Food Day had three purposes: student education, faculty and community awareness of an awesome resource, and a need for funding,” explained Susan Halpin, ARHS Family and Consumer Science teacher. “This day was a perfect opportunity to showcase the garden.”
Both the school’s culinary classes and the Environmental Club were instrumental in this special day. About 75 students participated with the cooking, baking and research. The day before this event, several classes came down to see the garden and look through the research projects.
Some of the projects’ topics included the amount of sugar Americans consume, portion sizes and healthy beverages such as flavored waters with cucumber and herbs. There was even an “app” created to represent the various vegetables, herbs and fruits that are found in the garden.
The garden is not only aesthetically beautiful but it is sustainable as well. Beets, carrots, kale, broccoli, tomatoes, squash, Brussel sprouts, herbs, okra, corn, Swiss chard, raspberries, onions, basil and other vegetables have been planted from seed and harvested.
“The garden is important for so many great reasons,” Garden Coordinator Josh Richardson said. “Firstly, it is a community gathering point. It brings adults and children from all over the Metrowest area to share their interest in learning about the world outside our walls. Secondly, the garden is used for food production. The harvest from the beds finds its way into the classrooms, the food bank and the senior center. It’s not only a teaching tool; it’s also a farm. Lastly, it’s a space for quiet contemplation. The gardens offer a pause in our digital lives to actually touch, smell, taste, hear and see how the natural world works, and as a bonus, all of the examples out there are intriguing.”
The garden space at Algonquin has been in existence for the past six years. Lowe’s assisted with a recent makeover, donating materials as well as almost a dozen of their employees to renovate the garden beds.
According to Halpin, the Serenity Garden was commissioned by both the Southborough Education Foundation and the Murphy Sisters Foundation. The parents of Shauna and Meghan Murphy developed the foundation. The Southborough sisters, whose lives ended tragically in a car accident in 2005, were students at Algonquin.
“Unfortunately, there isn’t money to finish the Serenity Garden Courtyard Project or pay someone to oversee the maintenance of the garden,” Halpin said.
During the summer, Halpin, Richardson and special education teacher Zbysia Giegnoz all volunteered countless hours with some of the students and members of the community to maintain the garden.
“This outdoor space can be used as a classroom with educational classes related to plants, health, sustainability and more. My students have learned so much from this curriculum and they were so excited for Food Day,” Giegnoz said.
“The gardens are a huge resource for the school. The opportunity to get teens to connect in a tangible way with the world around them, while learning about nutrition and food responsibility cannot be replicated in a textbook driven classroom,” Richardson said. “To me, there is nothing better than seeing the ‘a-ha’ expression on a student’s face while pulling giant purple carrots from the soil or harvesting a sunflower larger than their head.”