By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

Students at Sea Road School in Kennebunk will be testing their green thumbs this year in a new greenhouse currently under construction as an addition to the existing science laboratory. 

The greenhouse project is an extension of the new three eight-week unit science curriculum teachers began using last year, fifth grade teacher Wendy Thompson said. She said fifth graders focus on energy, “Earth’s changing surface” and the human body, while units for fourth grade students include matter, “the watery Earth” and “nature recycles,” and the greenhouse will help emphasizes hands-on learning, which she said has proved to increase the interest children have in learning about science.

“With science, I’ve always had the most fear in teaching it, but now with this greenhouse and curriculum it is so exciting and so much fun to teach,” Thompson said. “I’ve been teaching for 23 years and I’ve never heard kids say ‘Can we do science now?’” 

Students in her class last year were “really excited” about the idea of having greenhouse space designated for experiments, Thompson said, and compared the anticipation of the completed project to waiting for presents on Christmas morning.

Thompson, along with a group of teachers and Principal Kevin Crowley, developed the proposal for the 10 by 16-foot greenhouse to be built from the side of the school’s current science laboratory. 

She presented the final proposal to the Education Foundation of the Kennebunks in May, and foundation president Ted Damon said the foundation encouraged the project and was happy to fund it.

“The Education Foundation of the Kennebunks has been around for two years. We look to help with interesting projects that engage kids in the real world, stimulating them with projects that are fun,” Damon said. “The greenhouse has immediate value to the science program, but has other benefits. The kids may decide to grow and sell vegetables, giving them a good sense of potential. It incorporates learning with hands-on projects.” 

The foundation approached teachers in the district, asking what they would do for their students if money were not an object, Damon said, adding the greenhouse is just one idea that has come to fruition.

He said in the past two years the foundation has funded 25 projects using a total of $125,000 from sponsors, grants, fundraisers and private donations.

Though the construction has been paid for, materials for science classes are still needed.

“The Education Foundation of the Kennebunks has funded the construction of the greenhouse, but we are still hoping for donations along the way,” Thompson said. 

She said students will need supplies including cooking oil, tooth picks, gardening gloves, mason jars, pots, soil and sand to complete experiments for each unit. 

Thompson said as she researched the idea of building a greenhouse, similar structures she read about were in states with warmer climates, but said adding “green” into Maine’s schoolyards is not a new idea.

Portland Trails School Ground Greening Project Greening Coordinator Laura Newman said she began working with Portland schools to develop a science curriculum with a trail project in 2003.

Aside from trail projects in greater Portland, Newman said she has seen a response to improve schoolyards with gardens and seating for outdoor classrooms, as well as learning about food origination and healthy eating with school vegetable gardens. 

A current movement to encourage schools to take students outside is “No Child Left Inside,” which she said points to the No Child Left Behind Act and educators who focus only on teaching to meet the standards in reading, math and science.

“Children spend time on the school grounds and playgrounds before and after school,” Newman said. “Kids need more than asphalt and equipment. It’s important that children are learning about nature and playing with nature.”