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Tami and Chet Griffeth are volunteers with David Harrison Elementary and their daughter, Rebecca, is a kindergarten teacher there. When the Griffeths retired from the State of Missouri where they both worked in the Department of Social Services, their daughter asked them to help in her classroom.
“It was only natural and fortunate for us that we were able to help out with our daughter’s classroom and school projects whenever possible,” said the Griffeths. “We always knew we would volunteer with a local organization once we retired, and this was a great transition and fit.”
Their help in the classroom quickly led to another possibility. “Our daughter realized early on that Harrison had an unused greenhouse/high tunnel. She knows that we both love gardening and being outdoors. So she approached us and her principal with the idea of reopening the greenhouse and getting the kids involved.” said the Griffeths. This collaboration evolved into the founding of the Harrison Elementary Garden Club.
The club meets on Mondays and Wednesdays after school during the spring and fall for eight week sessions. Through the Garden Club, students are able to start in the spring with empty beds of soil. They are taught how to sow seeds, transfer seedlings and small plants, how to maintain those plants, and how to water, weed and harvest what was planted. Plans are created for each day based on the weather and growth of the garden.
“Our daughter studied the Reggio Emilia approach while getting her undergraduate and master's degrees. This fell right into teaching and showing the children how to work with plants, nature, and the outdoors. She became the lead teacher and developed a gardening program to involve as many children as possible. Again, fate was on our side, and SPS has developed a wonderful School to Garden element of the curriculum.” said the Griffeths.
“The greatest gift is watching the students harvest vegetables to take home and picking produce to donate to the Ozarks Food Harvest and the Least of These food pantries,” said the Griffeths. “We have been around children of all ages for the majority of our careers and just love everything about the interactions. The ‘aha’ moments and the genuine love they show to people. We are thankful we get to volunteer with children while doing something we love as well – gardening.”
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