Medway's Burke-Memorial School Celebrates Harvest Day

Second and third-graders at Burke-Memorial Elementary School celebrated Harvest Day on Monday, Nov. 18, assembling and selling crops they cultivated in campus garden beds as part of a partnership with Medway Community Farm. (Photo courtesy Medway Public Schools)

 Burke-Memorial Elementary School Principal John Kelley said that that the school’s second and third-grade students celebrated Harvest Day on Monday, Nov. 18, reaping the rewards of a hands-on educational experience that taught them the fundamentals of farming.

Parents were invited to shop at a volunteer-run farmstand at the school. Students sold bunches of vegetables, including radishes, lettuce, bok choy, kohlrabi, and kale, that they had been tending in raised garden beds outside the school since first planting seeds in mid-September. The event was held in partnership with Medway Community Farm.

"I’m proud of how our students pulled together for this Harvest Day, sorting and bundling their crops for sale after learning what it takes to grow them,” Principal Kelley said. "We’re thankful to the parent volunteers for making this a special day, and to all the students and teachers for taking part, and for Medway Community Farm for making this all possible."

A total of 16 classes participated in the Harvest Day event, each responsible for caring for their own raised garden bed — planting, watering, and cultivating the plants since the start of the school year. On Harvest Day, the students bundled the crops and assembled them at the farm stand to be sold, with each class taking a 40-minute shift to run the stand, with members of the Medway Community Farm on hand to help the students, along with parent volunteers.

The vegetables nearly sold out, with just a small share remaining, and are being donated to food banks in the area.

The school’s on-campus farm features 16 raised garden beds, which were rebuilt during the spring.

“It truly is a community farm here on campus,” Principal Kelley said. “Our students get to learn about the process for what it takes for certain crops to grow and go from seed to table.”

The Harvest Day event was the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic that the school’s second and third-graders dug into the on-campus garden.

For more than 15 years, Burke-Memorial Elementary School has offered these types of agricultural experiences through programs in partnership with Medway Community Farm.

“This started a long time ago as a teacher-driven initiative, as a way to get students familiar and involved with farming here in Medway,” Principal Kelley said.

Fourth-grade students plan to visit Medway Community Farm in the spring as part of the ongoing partnership. An event similar to Harvest Day is scheduled to take place there, and the goal is to teach the children more about what it takes to get crops from farm to table.

On Harvest Day, the second and third-graders were also tasked with tidying up and preparing the emptied garden beds for the next planting in springtime.

“For some of our students, this is their first experience with farming,” Principal Kelley said. “Thank you to all of our parents, volunteers, and Medway Community Farm for providing these wonderful, hands-on educational opportunities. We look forward to seeing what crops up next.”

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Second and third-graders at Burke-Memorial Elementary School celebrated Harvest Day on Monday, Nov. 18, assembling and selling crops they cultivated in campus garden beds as part of a partnership with Medway Community Farm. Principal John Kelley (center) joined the students for Harvest Day festivities. (Photo courtesy Medway Public Schools)

Second and third-graders at Burke-Memorial Elementary School celebrated Harvest Day on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, assembling and selling crops they cultivated in campus garden beds as part of a partnership with Medway Community Farm. (Photo courtesy Medway Public Schools)