Baird Mosaic of Gardens

What’s the first thing you notice when you walk onto the campus? A garden of beautiful mosaic murals that flank the outdoor walls, mirroring the rich heritage of countries and cultures around the world. Baird’s many gardens reflect the camaraderie among students and faculty, and their commitment to compassion and world peace. Each trimester, they focus on a different part of the world—Africa, Meso-america or Asia. Their garden activities feed into a multi-cultural festival at the beginning and end of each year.

Surrounded by the mosaic murals is the “Peace Garden,” where sculptures honor the ambassadors of peace and remind us of lives sacrificed in war.  It is awesome to discover that sixth grade students created these mosaics with their social studies teacher.
    
Students also created Baird’s multiple horticulture gardens, which are peppered throughout the campus.
    
The Little Farmers’ Garden is reserved for 5th and 6th graders—a quaint area fenced off especially for these students.  The 7th and 8thgrade students do all the prep, or as Joey says, “the yeoman’s work.”  They act as mentors while the 5th and 6th graders do the planting and harvesting.   For science, 5th graders study weather and water with the Little Farmers Garden as their living lab.

Step outside a science classroom, and you’re in the North Forty, which runs the length of the science wing and provides a home for annual crops. The North Forty is where the students do most of their hands-on learning about agriculture and grow crops for their monthly Farmers Market and other festivals.

Besides being an integral part of their agriculture studies, their garden activities prepare for the Harvest festival in the fall and a multicultural festival at the end of each year. They plant continuously throughout the year so that they always have some produce to sell at their Friday Farmers Markets.  Here’s where Baird students and teachers create community—by inviting neighbors and parents to buy produce students have grown and other wares they’ve made in their wood shop classes.

North Forty’s greenhouse

Joey and the students constructed a simple hoop greenhouse for propagating plants. The students do the propagation themselves, often starting with the easier plants—corn, beans and squash. They also learn about the special environment created in a greenhouse. Sometimes they have hundreds of plants in the greenhouse.  Greenhouse plants are primarily a fundraiser—sold at their school Farmers Market.

To engage students, Joey created a contest.  Students take the plants home and plant them, and then take pictures of their home gardens.   Pictures of the home gardens are judged by other students.

The Gourd Garden,theSecret Garden, and the Frog Garden feature both perennials and annuals (and frogs!).  Each has a special use in the curriculum and in the culture of the school.

The GourdGarden combines 7th Grade Agriculture, Social Studies and Art.  A few years ago, 7thgrade students decided that they would like to grow gourds for their Social Studies African unit.  Now each year, they plant, harvest and dry the gourds, and then create wild and wonderful masks that connect to their study of African cultures.  These activities integrate curriculum in agriculture, social science and art. The outdoor mural projects reinforce these cultural connections.