Wayne, PA (May 23, 2024) – New Eagle Elementary School and its students were recently honored with the Community Pride Award from Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful for its “Giving Garden,” which educates students about gardening while helping combat food insecurity.
The school received the award after being nominated by State Senator Carolyn Comitta, who also honored the school with a special Senate Citation in honor of the garden’s 10 year anniversary and met with students, who as first-graders, helped launch the program
“School gardens serve as an excellent learning experience for our students,” said Comitta, a former public school teacher who currently serves on the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and Senate Education Committee. “They help teach our children the joys of gardening and horticulture, they provide a unique way to teach the values of teamwork and patience, and they can help benefit the community with donations to local food pantries. New Eagle Elementary’s Giving Garden is an amazing example of community, and I am glad to see them recognized for their work.”
The Giving Garden features five raised garden beds to represent the five grades at New Eagle Elementary School in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. The students prepare the beds, plant the seeds, and harvest the produce with help from parent volunteers.
“We want our school to be a place where students learn, and practice, the many ways they can be positive contributors to the world around them,” said New Eagle Elementary Principal Dr. Andrew Phillips. “The PTO provides hands-on experiences and volunteer opportunities that extend the walls of our classrooms. Our garden’s harvests benefit our local Chester County Food Bank on an ongoing basis. The Giving Garden is an exemplar of how families and schools can partner together to provide students with authentic learning experiences and essential skills for making their communities better.”
The garden was established through the Chester County Food Bank’s Partner Garden Program, which provides the seeds and seedlings to the school.
“Our Raised Bed Garden Program, adopted by the Food Bank in 2009 with six partner sites, has since guided the growth of over 100 gardens at schools, food cupboards, and social service agencies,” said Kale Doughty, Food Access Education Manager at the Chester County Food Bank. “Our partners collectively grow 30,000 pounds of vegetables annually for our network. We greatly appreciate New Eagle Elementary School for their commitment to fighting food insecurity in our community.”
In 2023, more than 160 pounds of produce grown in the Giving Garden was donated to a local food pantry.
“The New Eagle Elementary School community is thrilled to receive the Keep PA Beautiful Award,” said Hannah Johnston, Chair of the New Eagle PTO Garden Committee. “The Giving Garden is a wonderful collaboration between New Eagle and the Chester County Food Bank. The students learn about gardening and also participate in the entire process from planting seeds to donating their harvest to those in need. We would like to thank Senator Comitta for nominating the Giving Garden for this honor. The children loved having her visit!”
Four former students of New Eagle Elementary and participants in the first year of the garden came back to the school for a ceremony celebrating the award.
“It was fun to see how much the garden has changed over the years,” said Maggie Troy, former New Eagle student and graduating senior at Conestoga High School. “We had so much fun creating it and helping to plant and harvest. It is amazing how many people our garden has helped! What a great tradition to have at New Eagle!”
The Community Pride Award recognizes outstanding environmental stewardship and can be awarded to individuals, schools, community organizations, or civic groups that make an outstanding commitment to litter control, recycling, beautification, or general environmental stewardship.
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