History
A couple of years ago, two WWA parents, Chris Oster and Gregg McMahon, met at a gardening event and became friends. Deciding that they wanted to share their gardening and beekeeping experience with others, they started talking about starting a garden at WWA. Chris was already volunteering with the Boy Scouts, and he recognized a potential win-win opportunity: having Boy Scouts build a garden area for WWA as their Eagle Scout project. In summer 2010, Chris and Gregg worked with two Scouts, Matt Thompson and Eric Rysdahl, to develop the plans for the retaining wall and raised beds that now grace the field directly south of the WWA front parking lot. In spring 2011, Matt and Eric finalized their plans and raised the money for the materials. WWA PTO generously provided some of the necessary funding for the project. The Boy Scouts completed construction in June, and Chris planted some demo vegetables in the beds just to get things started.
During this time period, WWA started working with Denver School Lunch, WWA’s hot lunch provider, to set up an in-ground organic garden next to the playground. DSL sets up and maintains organic gardens at some of their schools and uses any harvest in their school lunches. Mrs. Adams’ kindergarten class planted the first seeds in May, and students have enjoyed visiting the garden this year.
WWA PTO has provided significant financial assistance to construct and operate the raised beds, and they are also working to generate additional funds for future capital improvements.
