What began as a tiny garden bed on the front lawn has blossomed into a full-fledged Farm-to-Table program for Sitka’s alternative high school. Pacific High in Sitka this year opened a 1,100-square foot greenhouse on school grounds, supplemented by an extensive outdoor garden. Principal Mandy Summer outlined the program for the Sitka School Board on Wednesday (12-6-23). She said that it’s not just about growing plants.
“So the purpose of our program is really to build career, technical, and general skills in youth that they will need to thrive in the future,” said Summer. “We have classes and activities that are 100 percent based in our farm-to-table program, and these include our spring gardening, our garden construction classes, our culinary classes that happen all year long, and our school-wide stewardship days.
“And so the garden and culinary program also support other classes and learning opportunities by providing space for other projects in science classes, math classes, and our Alaska studies class. We have elementary school field trips from Baranof to come over and do potato planting projects in our garden. We’ve had Outer Coast students come and do services. And there’s a high potential for more things like this to happen, as staffing and capacity allows, particularly by offering summer programming opportunities.”
“When we have garden stewardship days, even our most disengaged students inside the building and inside the classroom are very engaged outside in the garden,” she said. “The work is supporting their confidence and their pride, supporting their development of a good work ethic. And the kitchen and garden spaces also allow us to make connections with traditional foods for our majority indigenous student body.”
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