As an adult, Kiley O’Leary missed the childhood experiences of gardening, c anning, and meal prepping for farming seasons.
Those beloved experiences led O’Leary, a health occupations instructor at Fort Dodge Senior High School, to create a cross-curricular experience that teaches students young and old about food while incorporating personal passions.
“I reflected on how expensive food is as well as the cost of running a daycare when it came to groceries for the kids,” said O’Leary. “I thought about how great of an activity it would be for the kids to take ownership and help in creating a garden at their daycare to do their part to cut back on grocery bills, while also giving them a chance to do activities outside, unplugged, good old fashioned activities. I also wanted a way to tie all the great things that we have going on at FDSH and let the community be a part of it. We have so many great programs at the high school and so many talented students.”
O’Leary’s idea has since morphed into Feeding Our Future which involves more than 50 FDSH students and five teachers through a variety of student organizations and classes.
Students in the Health Occupations Students of America club are helping to teach daycare students at Kids Kingdom about the importance of eating healthy. Family, Career and Community Leaders of America students have created age appropriate activities and lessons for kids around the Feeding Our Future project including planting, taking care of plants, and focusing on where food comes from. Skills USA students are helping the daycare to build the garden itself. Students in FDSH’s Art Club are painting a mural on the garden space and have also made coloring books with an A-Z theme of fruits and vegetables.