Polacca Head Start traditional gardening project

<i>Polacca Head Start
Garden Project</i><br>
Students learn how to use the <i>sooya</i>, or traditional planting stick.

<i>Polacca Head Start Garden Project</i><br> Students learn how to use the <i>sooya</i>, or traditional planting stick.

POLACCA, Ariz. - Despite the windy weather conditions, the Polacca Head Start Garden Project and Ms. Kaursgowva's class planted heirloom traditional seeds in their new terrace garden. This is the second annual planting celebration for Polacca Head Start.

The new terrace garden was constructed by Daniel Honyaktewa with assistance from Anthoney Dukepoo. The terraces feature locally quarried natural sandstone and has a total of eight rows. To prepare for the planting, Ms. Kaursgowva sewed little planting aprons decorated with the children's handprints. Parents harvested and prepared traditional planting sticks and staff demonstrated seedling prep with recycled materials. Utilizing the traditional planting sticks, student's planted blue corn, white corn and purple string beans, all donated by parents and staff. Additional seeds were planted by staff. The garden project staff would like to thank Mr. Honyaktewa, Ms. Kaursgowva, Polacca Head Start staff, Hopi Head Start administration and most importantly the parents in making the annual planting project a success.

Garden project staff will be tending the garden over the summer and everyone is invited to weekly potluck lunches and educational films. Tentatively, this will occur every Thursday, except for June 17. Tune into KUYI Hopi radio or check our website for more information.

With First Lady Michele Obama's newly launched "Let's Move" Initiative to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity by 2015, school gardens are a key recommendation to fight obesity. According to the White House Childhood Obesity report, school gardens provide great opportunities for fun and physical activity while also serving as an important educational tool to introduce children to local nutritious food production. Some research suggests that school gardens used as part of a nutrition education strategy can increase knowledge of fruits and vegetables and influence behavior change among children and parents.

The Polacca Head Start Garden Project is comprised of students, teachers, parents and community members who come together to create a learning environment rooted in the principles of working in harmony with nature, while reinforcing the traditional values and customs of our Hopi/Tewa community. Our project is open to all children, parents and community members.

For more information visit www.phsgarden.org or contact Anthoney and Cara Dukepoo, Project Coordinators; Polacca Head Start Garden Project; P.O. Box 34; Keams Canyon AZ 86034 or call (928) 738-5428.

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