“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ~ Cicero, B.C. Roman philosopher, statesman, and orator. Cicero was a wise man, and Each One Teach One (EOTO) students are thriving in his wisdom 2060 years after he lived.
Children's “Summer slide” is well documented where they return to school in the Fall and have to relearn skills from their previous grade before moving forward. Instead EOTO gives students' learning a boost. During its 9th year of Summer Program, in June 2017, 66 Greenwood students joyfully engaged in:
1) one hour of rigorous, conversational literacy study with a garden-themed or community-service focused book in very small groups. Students even dramatized Katie’s Cabbage and starred in their own production of the book.
2) One hour of science in the garden emphasizing horticulture (plant ID and best growing conditions), chemistry (composting), botany (germination, photosynthesis, pollination), and biology (coleoptery, lepidoptery) and eating the harvest.
3) One hour of visual arts integrating the literacy book with the garden.
4) Biking to tend other school gardens and for recreation and cardiovascular health.
Teachers proclaim that students learn more during the 19 half-day Summer Program than they learn all year. Research by the University of Colorado Evaluation Center gives evidence that students who had EOTO Summer Program outperformed children from matched control DPS schools when they returned to school in the Fall.
Because teachers have many fewer students during the Summer Program, they have significantly more opportunities to interact with family members who drop off and pick up their children or join them in the cafeteria.
It’s no wonder children feel empowered during EOTO Summer Program because it touches the wholeness of their world and meets their growing-up needs.
PLEASE help EOTO provide for students to attend Summer Program, 2018 by clicking here.