ARLINGTON- Eagle Creek Elementary summer camp students received bags of vegetables this summer thanks to a school garden that grew this past year.

Eagle Creek students worked together to create a school garden. They started plants from seeds, transplanted the starts and cared for the garden last year while school was in session. Over the summer, summer camp students and staff watched the garden grow, produce an abundance of vegetables.

“Each grade level learned about different parts of the growing cycle that aligned with the curriculum in their science and social studies classes,” third grade teacher Julie Polkinghorn said. “Any time you can connect hands-on learning with your curriculum, it really helps to teach the lesson.”

The garden was started with an Arlington Education Foundation mini-grant that paid for a greenhouse, seeds, and 10 yards of topsoil. The district’s Support Services department helped to get the raised beds ready for the seeds.

“The garden will be expanding this year so our students have more opportunities to learn,” Eagle Creek Principal Bethany Belisle said. “We are very fortunate in Arlington that we have great partners like the Arlington Education Foundation that support innovative projects in our schools.”