Each year SAFE BASE has strived to give community youth a unique summer experience. While physical fitness has been the emphasis in the past couple of years, children will get a chance to grow a green thumb this year.
SAFE BASE, which is supported completely by donations, is using funding from the recently acquired Kansas State Department of Education five-year $584,473 grant for a trip into the outdoors this year. The funding determines how long the summer classes last. For three days, June 18-20, 150 students will set aside textbooks in favor of a program designed to put young hands in motion. The session- the ninth in 12 years- will feature agricultural activities as well as a myriad of other projects that will emphasize the sciences.
“We want to give these kids a lot of practical skills,” John Richards, master gardener, said while standing amongst the rows of the Wayne Garrett Children’s Garden. “Being able to learn how to grow their own food is something that no one can take away from them.”
Richards, along with Bruce Jacobs, master gardener, will spend an hour each of the three days working with ages kindergarten to eighth grade. Specifically, students will get a chance to plant sweet peppers, squash and cucumber. Most of the choices for the plants are a result of Richards’ experiences in his own growing.
“I’ve been gardening for 60 years,” Richards noted. “I experiment every year with different techniques and approaches. I’ll be bringing a lot of that kind of thing into the lessons with the kids.”
The garden isn’t the only place where students will get a chance for field work. Each day the students will get a reading and science lesson lasting 50 minutes each. Some of the activities planned during those time periods will be organized to keep students entertained while they learn.
“We’re going to have some fun stuff like bat scent exercises,” Angela Henry, SAFE BASE director, said. “Each child will make a little holder that will have a cotton ball with a scent matching the one they wear. We’ll blindfold them and then just like how a baby bat finds its mother, they’ll have to use their sense of smell to find out where their partner is.”
The “Ladybug Release” will kick off the final evening of fun and learning. Food will be served shortly before Carrie “The Bug Lady” Tiemeyer from Wichita presents her assortment of animals in an interactive lesson that will allow students to get up close and personal with tarantulas, house spiders, four different kinds of roaches and other animals.
“Students will get a chance to learn more about what insects like praying mantises can do for a garden setting,” Henry said. “She has a lot of different animals that I’m sure the kids will enjoy.”
After the presentation, guests can watch as 4,500 ladybugs will be released into the garden. The ladybugs are being introduced to the garden as a way to fight pests in a natural way.
Children will head back to Lincoln Elementary to watch the movie, “It’s A Bug’s Life.” Afterward, students from third to eighth grade will stay overnight at Lincoln where they’ll participate in campfire type activities and go outside for star gazing.
The program is free to any children who fall within the grades of kindergarten to eighth grade. Stop by Iola Middle School’s SAFE BASE offices or visit the SAFE BASE table at the Iola Farmers Market the next two Thursdays. For more information, call 620-365-4780.
“It’s going to be a unique way for these kids to get a chance to do something they probably don’t have an option to do otherwise,” Henry said. “We’re looking forward to getting these kids and helping them to see the fun they can have with things like science.”
