Nurturing Growth: The Gardenworks Project & Educare West DuPage
The GardenWorks Project has been partnering with Educare West DuPage, an early childhood school in West Chicago, since 2022 to transform the school’s outdoor space into a vibrant community vegetable garden. With the support of GardenWorks staff, Educare teachers and students are growing vegetables and sharing the fruits of their labor with their families.
This season, the enthusiastic, young gardeners carefully planted 4x8 garden beds, round “pizza” shaped garden beds, and grow bags with vegetables including green beans, tomatoes, and carrots. Amanda Bryant, GardenWorks Programs Manager, guided the young gardeners to “find the rainbow” and care for the “baby plants.” Each week, different classrooms are responsible for watering and weeding the garden and harvesting their bounty. "Watching a child pull a carrot out of the ground makes them feel like a magician,” Bryant notes. “The look of shock and wonder on their faces is such a delight!"
The gardens provide, not only access to healthier foods, but a rewarding learning experience. Mentor Educare teacher Jen Prodoehl shared, “It's just amazing to me how so many areas of learning were embedded into (the gardens), whether it's science or social-emotional. Our focus here is social, emotional and just caring for living things.” The gardens offer a range of learning opportunities for all ages, from discussing how a garden grows with the youngest learners, to observing the garden from a science lens with older learners. A classroom of two-year olds developed a special passion for the garden this year, and their creative teacher team, Abby, Marisa, and Cynthia, incorporated literacy lessons into the students’ delightful experience of growing tomatoes.
The young gardeners proudly display their freshly harvested vegetables at their own farmer’s market stall, where families can “shop” and take fresh food home. This season, 90 families have enjoyed the benefits of the garden. As the season comes to a close, The GardenWorks Project is proud to help create a welcoming space for the West Chicago community to learn and grow. We are looking forward to next season!
