EmBe's new teaching gardens inspire kids to learn about plants, nutrition

In partnership with Ground Works, EmBe has established a new teaching garden program at the EmBe Avera South childcare center in Sioux Falls.

EmBe childcare teachers, volunteers and children all worked together Thursday morning to build nine garden beds outside the center.

They used shovels, buckets and wheelbarrows to move the soil and the compost. Liz Mosena DeBerg, the executive director of childcare and school age care, said some of the kids had never used a shovel before and were already enjoying it.

More: Urban farm involves students, Sioux Falls community in gardening and sustainability efforts

“Many of them, until this morning, had never had their hands on a shovel,” she said. “And they’re just having a blast.”

Nutrient-based curriculum and Ground Works partnership

EmBe’s childcare center has been trying to focus more on nutrition, and that included decreasing processed foods and adding more fresh fruits and vegetables, having fruit-and-herb-infused water for the kids, and serving locally sourced meat.

When Mosena DeBerg started working at EmBe six months ago, she wanted to do something with all the green space they had in front of the building and see if she could tie it to nutrition.

“I started looking around at what could help our vision, and I found Cindy with Ground Works,” Mosena DeBerg said.

Ground Works is a local nonprofit that has established over 20 teaching garden programs for elementary and middle schools, including at Hayward Elementary, Sioux Falls Lutheran School and Ben Reifel Middle School.

They provide the underground, do the bed placement, create the planter themes, and provide the curriculum and leadership support.

More: Want to avoid a smelly compost in your backyard? This Sioux Falls nonprofit makes it easier.

First Rate Excavate also donated the soil, and the compost was donated by the City of Sioux Falls, so EmBe only paid for the construction of the beds through grants.

Three curriculum coordinators from Ground Works will work each year with the lead teachers at EmBe to develop the lesson plans, and the teachers will get to put their personal spin on them.

The educational component features weekly lesson plans that will revolve around six themes: salsa, pollinators/flowers, spring salad bar/fall veggies, sweet treats, stone soup and underground mysteries.

Each theme will have its own raised garden bed. There will also be two small garden beds for the children younger than kindergarten and one small bed just for digging and playing.

Inspiring kids to grow and learn

“My favorite part of this is the kids,” said Cindy Heidelberger from Ground Works, “and seeing the wonder and the enjoyment in them and exposing them to something that they haven't been exposed to.”

Maya Rood, who will enter fifth grade at Sonia Sotomayor Elementary this fall, said she’s excited to plant vegetables for the first time.

“It’s pretty cool to start it,” she said as she used a rake to mix compost and soil in one of the beds. “I really hope we plant carrots. I love carrots.”

Zoey Weber, who will be a fourth-grader at Pettigrew Elementary in the fall, is looking forward to the pollinator bed.

“I bet we’ll put lots of flowers in it to make it really pretty,” she said. Weber said both she and her two sisters are in EmBe's programs.

EmBe provides services for over 880 children in Sioux Falls and Mitchell. The Avera South center provides childcare for ages 4 weeks old through preschool, and EmBe’s after school and summer programs help children all through elementary school.

“It's really awesome to see the power of connections,” said Kayleigh Thill, an intern with Ground Works. “And when everything comes together, we have a great opportunity to inspire kids to keep learning about where their food comes from.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: EmBe partners with Ground Works, teaches kids about nutrition, gardens