Although schools are closed for the summer, agriculture production in the St. Croix district continues. The district’s Director of Agriculture, Velda Hendricks, with the help of four summer students, brought some much needed maintenance to the Eulalie Rivera Elementary School and John H. Woodson Jr. High School gardens.
The students, who are passionate about agriculture, reaped the benefits of this great experience as they spent four and a half weeks tending to the land and learning about agricultural production.
They were involved in weeding garden plots, applying mulch to garden banks using a shredded paper and woodchip blend, fertilizing soil and executed appropriate plant propagation techniques such as planting seedlings and plant cuttings that will grow corn, cucumber, carrots, cassava and sweet potatoes in future harvests.
Students also assisted in erecting a fence on an extended portion of the John H. Woodson vegetable garden in which they applied basic math skills using a measuring tape and level. In addition to learning about the planting and harvesting aspects of agriculture, the farming enthusiasts received safety training in handling garden tools.
Winding down their four-week farming project, summer students and staff members enjoyed a fruitful harvest of vegetables planted at the Eulalie Rivera Elementary School.
Director Hendricks is looking forward to a very successful 2017-18 school year as she hopes to increase food production for the school lunch program.
