The Making of the Cedarwood Peace Garden
May 24, 2021 -- Thanks to community partners, the students at Cedarwood Elementary School have learned many new lessons this year regarding farm-to-table and healthy eating.
“Last week, the students tried a plant-based pizza from all the vegetables we grew, and it was delicious,” said Merele Wilder, a fifth-grade teacher at Cedarwood.
Growing vegetables in the garden at Cedarwood is nothing new. But this year, thanks to Christine Weatherholtz, the Farm to School/Nutrition Educator at Columbus City Schools, and several community partners, the garden at Cedarwood got a whole lot bigger.
Cedarwood now has two raised garden beds, picnic tables and benches, and an extensive library of books on gardening that Columbus Council member Pricilla Tyson donated. Late last week under sunny blue skies, volunteers from the American Heart Association, Mid-Ohio Food Collective, State Farm Insurance, and the Culinary Mobile Kitchen from the Ohio State University’s Wexner Center came to Cedarwood on two different Cohort days to help kids plant and paint the Cedarwood Peace Garden.
Under a shade tree, Councilmember Tyson also read to the students from one of the garden books.
“Not only are we teaching students how to make healthy eating choices, but we showed them what’s possible with partnerships and support,” said Wilder.
Those lessons are invaluable, especially on young, impressionable minds.