An Enchanted Garden  

by Elise Breda, Third Grade Intern Teacher 

I watched in wonder as seventeen Mackintosh Academy third-graders stood mesmerized by eleven acres of verdant, late summer gardens stretching before them. “This is my favorite, favorite field trip ever,” one student squealed as she pulled back the ground vines of a mouse melon plant to collect her own miniature harvest.

Students at Mackintosh Academy in Boulder enjoy a myriad of experiential trips to support learning throughout the school year, and last month as a part of our “Healthy Choices” International Baccalaureate (IB) Unit of Inquiry, our third grade class visited Growing Gardens in North Boulder. I had two main questions after our field trip: What made Growing Gardens such an enchanting educational experience for our students, and how could I bring elements of our excursion into my teaching?

Rather than dive into the joys of hands-on learning or the necessity of real-world application (though those merit their own writings), I wanted to explore a more basic need. Spoiler alert—eight-and-nine-year-olds need movement. Our morning at Growing Gardens required significant time spent walking, bending, and reaching. Unlike the education I experienced growing up, where instruction and movement were separate entities (e.g. a mini-lesson on the carpet followed by a brain break of Simon Says), our physical experience and education at Growing Gardens were inherently intertwined. We inspected the herb beds as we learned about mint, chives, and lemon balm, and then we traveled to the kitchen to turn our freshly gathered pepper and tomatoes into salsa.

Our students asked focused, deep questions and made connections to what we had learned in our Unit of Inquiry on healthy choices. Their minds and their bodies were consistently engaged and on the move—a developmentally appropriate state for an excited group of seventeen eight-and-nine-year-olds.

After experiencing the Growing Gardens fieldtrip, my eyes were opened to all of the movement-in-learning that was happening on Mack’s campus—it’s basically a 23-acre outdoor classroom! I just hadn’t noticed it before, or perhaps I just didn’t realize the intentionality behind it. I am now inspired to build more integrated movement into my lessons, and I can’t wait to discuss the topic and learn more from my mentor teacher and colleagues. Our brains and bodies work as one when we learn; serving one well will also serve the other. I’m thrilled to be spending my teaching intern year at Mackintosh Academy Boulder—unlike the gardens we visited, my own learning will continue to grow all year.