tucson, ariz. — when i first walked past the doors of manzo elementary, i was greeted by a tan woman wearing blue pom pom earrings. blue baldwin, the ecology program coordinator, welcomed me into the school. she ushered me to a courtyard which housed a little stage and a chicken cage. there were no chickens, i was immediately puzzled. she could see my confusion and started walking me around the first courtyard to another open area on the opposite side of the school. a secret garden was waiting for us.<\/p>\n
a small organic garden supported rows of leafy vegetables. children came from a classroom nearby and began to water the plants, a routine chore for them. across from the garden was a large chicken coop and greenhouse. sprinkled in between these structures were small trails and vegetation. the classrooms surrounded a miniature environment which felt foreign in a tucson neighborhood. this school is moving the planet forward in a way i had never seen before and i knew i needed to share it. their sustainability practices are fostering a love of nature with young children and passes on an appreciation for the environment to younger generations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
manzo elementary school in tucson, arizona is fostering nature lovers from a young age by integrating an ecology program into their educational institution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9952,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4902,5196],"tags":[292,4368,591,81],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-11589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-colleges-education","category-past-storyfest","tag-environmental-education","tag-manzo-elementary-school","tag-storyfest","tag-sustainability"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n