Learning garden at Abbotts Creek Elementary School shows Wake Co. students where food comes from

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The learning garden at Abbotts Creek Elementary School is the first of its kind in the county giving students the opportunity to really understand how foods get from the roots to the table.

Tuesday, a group of 3rd-graders were the first to experience the new learning garden, with help from their teacher Krista Brinchek.

"Anytime you get kids into nature make that connection make the learning authentic where they can actually see and touch and be inquisitive about the science while they're learning is just a win-win situation," Brinchek said.

She is the science specialist at the school and helped students get real hands-on experience identifying plants, planting and harvesting.

"A lot of students I have noticed throughout the years don't know where their food comes from. They don't know about gardens; they don't know how the plants grow, so just being able to provide this at the elementary level to give that foundation knowledge that will carry them through their middle and high school years in science is very important to me," she said.

They even got to see how real food is made from what they grow.

The learning garden is here with help from Dole and Harris Teeter as a part of their grant program from the Captain Planet Foundation.

Abbotts Creek Elementary School received $3,000 to pilot the program in Wake County.

The school's curriculum for the learning garden will give each student in each grade the opportunity to grow their own food and make recipes to take home.

"It's wonderful that our children get a chance to see nature like this to see the opportunities that they may not be able to have outside of the school building,' Principal Paula Trantham said.

Although this is the first for the district, leaders said the application for the grant for next year will open in January. The program accepts two grants per year and any school is encouraged to apply.