Four of our Head Start centers have a vegetable garden that extends the classroom to the outdoors. In these gardens, children are taught about the circle of life, which gives them an understanding of nature’s interdependency and need to respect and take care of all creatures since we do not know how their extinction could affect other species and ultimately affect us.

The children also learn about healthy eating habits; that their diet should include fruits and vegetables. They grow their own fruits and vegetables, harvest them, and cook them to later share them with their classmates and parents.

 As mentioned before, Centro’s priority is to get the parents involved and empowered as well. For example, our center in Providence, along with Utah State University , offers horticulture education to enrolled children. They are taught about different planting methods, efficient irrigation, nutrition, and integrated pest and weed management. Meanwhile, the children learn about their parents’ labor.