Somers school district constructs garden
<p>Community members Joni Schuman (left) and Lenny Stone (right) help plant tomatoes at a volunteer day last month at the garden that was planted at Somers Middle School. The garden will serve as an outdoor classroom, as well as a source for food.</p>
This summer the Somers community broke ground on a new project, literally.
Robin Vogler, who is the food services director for the Somers School District, is leading the effort in creating an organic garden at Somers Middle School, which will serve as an outdoor classroom and a source of food for the school.
“Robin invented the idea of nutritious lunches long before it was popular,” Somers resident Michelle Ahern said. “We are so lucky to have Robin here in our small community. We support her in this process of getting nutritious food to our kids.”
To accomplish the project, Vogler raised money through Parent Teacher Association grants and donations to buy materials for the garden. She also arranged for two volunteers to spend 13 weeks in Somers using grant money obtained from Montana State University. Jean Schwartz and Tory Elmore are volunteering through Americorps VISTA, a program specifically designed to fight poverty. They are working in coordination with the Montana Food Corp, a volunteer organization that works to provide healthy lunches to schools across the state.
Since Elmore and Schwartz arrived in Somers on June 13, they have built raised garden beds, put up fences, hauled in dirt, cleaned out existing flower beds, and planted numerous vegetables, fruits and other plants. The garden includes pumpkins, tomatoes, peas, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, strawberries, lettuce, onions, peppers, broccoli and corn.
“These gals have done all the grunt work and they’ve just been a blessing,” Vogler said. “This is something I’ve wanted to do for years, but you need help to do it and they made it happen.”
Elmore and Schwartz traveled a long way to be in Somers for summer program, which concluded Aug. 13. Elmore is from Somers, N.Y., while Schwartz traveled from San Clemente, CA. Both have enjoyed their time in Montana.
“I love it. I don’t want to go back,” Elmore, a junior at Brown University working toward a degree in Environmental Science said. “Montana is just gorgeous and the food corps here is really heading in the right direction. It’s going to be a model for other states and the food corps program.”
In addition to enjoying Montana, Elmore and Schwartz also enjoyed the opportunity to help the community with this project.
“It’s been great to be here,” Schwartz, a 2009 graduate of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts said. “Tory and I have learned a lot doing this in addition to helping the community. This is such a win-win thing.”
On July 23, a volunteer day was held for anyone who wanted to help with the garden. Several community members attended the event to show their support of this new project.
“School gardens give (students) the opportunity to not only eat good food, but also get their own hands in it and make a personal investment,” community member Laura Behenna said. “I’d love to see a garden at every school.”
The project members are hoping to hold another volunteer day in the near future though a date hasn’t been set yet.
For more information and step-by-step updates on the project, visit SummerinSomers.blogspot.com.