For most elementary students, being outside is a lot more fun than being in a classroom.
“So many of the kids, too, are not desk learners,” said Jennifer Roden, Pillow Academy fifth-grade math teacher. “They like kinesthetic learning. They want to get up. They want to touch. They want to play, and they learn better that way. So if we’re outside, everybody enjoys that more than sitting inside.”
Mustang Meadow is a new outdoor garden and classroom at Pillow Academy Elementary School. The classroom was designed to enhance the elementary curriculum with hands-on learning.
{{tncms-inline alignment="left" content="<p><strong>What:</strong> Pillow Academy Elementary School will hold Grandparents Day.</p> <p><strong>When:</strong> A program will start the day at 9 a.m. in the Craig Performing Arts Center.</p> <p><strong>Details:</strong> Grandparents will have an opportunity to see Mustang Meadow among other activities. All grandparents and grandfriends of students in K-4 through grade 5 are invited.</p>" id="a1a800bd-0409-4b60-9e4a-14f415c070e2" style-type="bio" title="COMING UP" type="relcontent"}}
Mustang Meadow was created during the summer after Pillow teachers saw a need for the students to get their hands dirty and learn that food doesn’t grow at the grocery store — it grows in the ground.
“This is all project-based learning,” said Gwen Toomey, fourth- and fifth-grade social studies teacher. “It’s a hands-on activity. You can teach and tell, but by doing they learn better, and it’ll stick with them better.”
Mustang Meadow is located behind Johnson Hall. It’s bright and colorful with blue, red, orange, green and yellow accents throughout the garden. The outdoor classroom is used by students in K-4 through grade 5.
For K-5, the students have an old boat that was donated and refurbished by the teachers to be used as a raised-bed garden. For K-4, the students have painted wooden crates that serve as planters. The crates are crafted to look like a caterpillar.
Grades 1-5 each have their own raised bed. All were built by North New Summit student Wilkes Meek for his Eagle Scout project. The students are involved in planting, growing and harvesting vegetables and flowers.
“Each grade is in charge of what they wanted to do with their bed,” said Roden.
The garden features recycled items. The second-grade’s raised bed features an old headboard, which is covered in a cypress vine.
Painted old tires serve as planters throughout the space. Part of an old fence and a screen door — both painted — make colorful backdrops.
Last school year, the area was all grass.
“At first, we wanted to do vines on a fence and have a small garden,” said Toomey. “Then, we decided to go big. We raised money, and we had the land graded so it would drain.”
Black mesh was put down to keep the grass from coming through. Then, rocks were added before the raised beds were built. During the summer, teachers would come out to help prepare the garden before the new school year.
“We’re really excited,” said Roden. “It’s really come a long way.”
In addition to the teachers, many parents, grandparents and friends have worked to make this project become a reality, Toomey said.
An arbor was recently added, and Pillow’s Elementary Honor Society spent an afternoon painting.
“The whole point of this is it doesn’t matter if you grow perfect kale. They just get to dig in the dirt and grow something,” said Roden.
Pillow is working with the Leflore County Extension Service and using Junior Master Gardeners curriculum and textbooks.
“It’s primarily for third through fifth grade, but all the lessons can be adapted to younger
kids,” said Roden.
Sulee Blansett, principal of Pillow elementary, said she thinks it’s a great addition to the school’s curriculum.
“The teachers are excited, and the kids are excited,” said Blansett. “It’s taking the learning out of the classroom. You don’t have to be in those four walls of the classroom to learn. They can come out here and learn, and you can cover every subject.”
Gardening and nutrition are not the only lessons to be taught in the outdoor space. Students can use the garden to learn math, reading, science, language and history.
Roden recently taught a math class in the garden on area and perimeter by measuring the raised beds.
“Each kid had a partner, and one had to measure length and one width and calculate the area and perimeter in inches and feet,” said Roden.
The students worked on their calculations at tables in the garden.
“It was really fun,” said Roden. “Then, we had to compare answers, and we discussed why it’s important to measure correctly so that you get the correct answers.”
Fifth-grader Sarah Rylie Harden said she enjoyed measuring the raised beds.
“It was fun because sometimes it gets a little boring just sitting inside, but it got better when we came out here,” she said.
Studies have shown that students increase school performance through outdoor education. The garden focuses on project-based learning, where students explore real-world problems and challenges to gain a deeper knowledge of the world around them.
“I like coming outside better because it’s better than being inside,” said Molley Blackstone, a fifth-grader. “It’s quieter, and it feels good out here, and it’s just really fun out here.”
Strain Howard, another Pillow fifth-grader, said he enjoys being in the outdoor classroom.
“I feel like I’m at home,” he said. “It’s easier to concentrate out here. You’re not listening to people talking. You’re not listening to pencils. You’re listening to wind, and it’s just a lot better.”
Toomey plans to teach a history lesson on Thomas Jefferson in the garden soon.
“Our eighth-grade students go to Washington, D.C., every year, and a teacher brought us back some seeds from Thomas Jefferson’s home that we are going to put out here,” she said. “We can learn about that, and we can have a lesson on him.”
Donna Pittman, who teaches second grade, said the teachers are planning to add a butterfly garden.
“Kids love butterflies,” she said. “If butterflies are on the playground, the students want to chase them.”
There are also future plans for a bird sanctuary and a greenhouse/art gallery.
In the second-grade garden, the students planted turnip greens. The seeds quickly germinated, and sprouts were visible in about four days.
“The loved it,” said Pittman. “We’re going to pick them and eat them.”
Fifth-grader Macy Lamb said it’s fun to watch the vegetables that she helped plant grow.
“We get to see them develop and get to see how big they get, and we get to harvest them ourselves,” she said. “It’s like we have our own little garden that we get to take care of, and I think that’s just cool.”
The fifth grade is growing kale, spinach and cabbage.
“We are thinking about learning how to make a salad,” said Camryn Joiner, a fifth-grade student. “It just helps to be out here. We learn better, because it’s a happy place to be in.”
• Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7233 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
What: Pillow Academy Elementary School will hold Grandparents Day.
When: A program will start the day at 9 a.m. in the Craig Performing Arts Center.
Details: Grandparents will have an opportunity to see Mustang Meadow among other activities. All grandparents and grandfriends of students in K-4 through grade 5 are invited.
