Grant funds combining literacy and gardening at Charleston Co. School

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Three different Charleston County schools got funding this year to help students learn to respect and preserve our natural environment.

The Malcolm C. Hursey Montessori School is one of the schools that received a Dominion Environmental Education & Stewardship grant and will be using the money for an educational outdoor space.

Through this funding the school is able to combine literacy and garden education so students can read outside while eating foods they’re grown.

The Charleston County School District said Malcolm C. Hursey Montessori School received a grant for around $2,300.

Garden teacher Shella Moritz said through this grant they were able to purchase new benches, tools and seeds for planting flowers and growing vegetables. She said students are now weeding, planting, watering and cooking.

She said the garden has a range of vegetables growing from potatoes, collards, carrots, radish, borage, cilantro, calendula, lettuce, to fennel.

Moritz said she enjoys being able to see young children try different vegetables that they normally wouldn’t and actually like them.

“First thing they come into the garden is just plucking,” Moritz said. “Ms. Moritz can we eat this? Ms. Moritz can we eat that? And so just that alone has helped me to appreciate we are introducing and helping them to recognize this very important part of their nutrition.”

Librarian Kaitlin Torres said this grant allows students to enjoy healthy foods they have picked from the garden while also reading in a peaceful environment. She said she noticed students are more attentive outside than they are in the school’s media center and this is a fun way for them to incorporate healthy eating.

“And for the kids to actually make a food and experience like oh I grew this strawberry and now I’m putting it in my smoothie and now I’m sitting and eating it while enjoying a book it was just a win-win for both of us,” Torres said.

The school’s principal Timothy Schavel said the school will be relocating down the block to a larger facility where they will continue holding these classes in their new garden.

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