A Garden of Learning: Agriculture-Based Fun for the Fall
The yellow school bus doors opened and out poured Durant Head Start Program students bundled in jackets, hats, and gloves for the chilly October morning. Guided by their teachers, the 3—5-year-olds lined up for a photo, hardly able to keep their eyes off the fun awaiting them.
The Chahta Foundation hosted a Fall Fun Day on October 27th during the final phase of our classroom garden project. Using remaining funds from the First Nations Development Institute’s Food Sovereignty Assessment Grant, we created a festival atmosphere with several “stations.”
“First Nations Development has been great to work with,” said Martha Lowery, Chahta Foundation Program Specialist. “They are very flexible.”
After photos, the children dashed to the miniature horses. The well-behaved animals took it calmly, guided by their trainers from Mini Hooves of Love Miniature Therapy Horses.
After petting the adorable horses that were just their size, the students moved to the livestock trailer to meet local FFA members and their show animals.
More buses of Head Start students arrived to fill the activity stations. Grandparents, parents, and Choctaw Nation employees came out to watch the 50-plus students and to work as volunteers.
In the garden, students roved a pumpkin “patch” to reach the corn dig, where Sandra Amos (Chahta Foundation Administrative Assistant) helped them find colorful plastic fruit in a wheel barrel of corn seeds.
“A lot of these kids were part of the edible schoolyard program,” Sandra explained. The fall fun day was an opportunity to refresh their minds with creative gardening practices and spark a love of farming.
“These are our future Ag producers,” said Seth Fairchild, Chahta Foundation Executive Director. “We want to help them start young.”
The students gathered eggs from the coop and took turns petting one of the chickens. One boy dashed through the hay bale maze, taking corners at full speed until he jerked to a halt at the sight of a furry creature. A New Zealand and Californian Cross rabbit was tucked in a cage at the dead end. With help from a volunteer, the student offered the rabbit a handful of hay.
There was more outright fun for kids and adults alike with a bean bag toss, pumpkin carving demonstrations by Scott Wesley (Chahta Foundation Scholarship Director), and yard bowling between potted vegetables. One student, frustrated by his lack of success at knocking over the two-liter bottle pins, hurled himself down the lane as a human bowling ball and made a decisive strike. In victory, he snatched a green tomato off the vine. His dad warned him he now had to eat it. The boy carefully placed the tomato back in the pot.
No one was ready for the fun to end, but gradually, teachers gathered their students to load in the buses.
The Chahta Foundation interactive classroom garden served its final purpose for the year. Someday, these little ones could become agriculture producers, creating a sustainable future for Choctaws and all people.
Credit: Sarah Elizabeth Sawyer
