Last week, Disney VoluntEARS joined the American Heart Association along with students & teachers at Juliette Low Elementary School to build the second AHA teaching garden in Anaheim funded by the Disneyland Resort. Designed as an outdoor classroom for hands-on learning about healthy living and the importance of nutritious foods, students will tend to and, later, harvest the growing plants – some of which will be used in school lunches at the cafeteria.
Students got involved by assembling planters, filling them with soil and planting vegetable seedlings. Disney VoluntEARS hosted activity stations for students of all ages to learn about the benefits of composting, plus paint garden stakes, rocks and trash cans to beautify the garden.
“We learned about plants and bugs in class, so it’s cool that we will be able to see it in real life now,” said Suraya Harris, sixth grader at Juliette Low Elementary School. “Nowadays, there is a lot of unhealthy food and people don’t grow fresh food. Having a garden at our school is going to give us the opportunity to learn how our food grows and help us learn how to eat better and live healthier.”
