Staff Writer

 A group of young gardeners learned a valuable lesson this summer: Cucumbers and weeds both grow abundantly in Old Orchard Beach.

The Loranger Middle School students last week wrapped up a summer full of tending the school garden, creating healthy meals and exploring the town on foot. A light rain didn’t dampen their enthusiasm as they harvested dozens of cucumbers and plucked pesky weeds.

The Healthy Kids Program, which began during the past year as an after-school program, encourages students to eat healthy foods, be physically active and improve social skills. Jackie Tselikis, school health coordinator for Regional School Unit 23, said the program is targeted to fourth- and fifth-grade students because they are the age group most at risk for obesity. 

Desiree McIntyre and six classmates made quick work of harvesting a couple dozen cucumbers and a large zucchini from the garden. They hefted their bounty up two flights of stairs to the kitchen classroom, where three loaves of zucchini bread cooled on the counter. One was for the students to sample, while the other two were gifts for cafeteria employees.

McIntyre, 11, said she enjoyed spending the summer harvesting vegetables from the garden and learning new ways to prepare them. The students learned how to grate zucchini for bread, slice vegetables for salads and make pickled cucumbers, she said.

“The pickles are the best because they’re easy to make,” McIntyre said. “I’ve also learned there can be many different kinds of weeds and they’re easy to pull out.”

Jenny Campbell, 10, said the program allowed her to help the environment and try foods she’d never tasted before. After sampling a piece of warm chocolate chip zucchini bread, she said it “didn’t even taste like zucchini.”

Amber Day said working in the garden in the heat of summer made her realize what it is like to be a farmer.

“Sometimes it would be really hot out but we’d have to suffer through it,” she said. “If we worked really hard, we’d be able to get the vegetables we grew.”

Haylee Ramsey and Bryce Salamacha said they enjoyed the physical activity incorporated into the program. The group went bowling, walked around town and played video games that encourage physical activity.

“I like how we walked to the library,” Ramsey said.

Samantha Donnell and Abbie Nadeau said it was fun to learn how to make stamps with radishes from the garden. They said they were proud to bring home vegetables to their families.

“I think it was fun because we got to hang out with our friends and work hard,” Donnell said.

Lisa Lurvey, family consumer science teacher, said students enjoyed the hands-on nature of the program.

“Everything I presented them with they were enthusiastic about. They were willing to try anything, especially when they grew it themselves,” she said.

Tselikis said students especially loved making salads to go with lunch and some brought their own salad dressing from home.

“They’re asking for healthy food, which is really nice,” she said. “We’re trying to combine fun with educational opportunities and exercise.”

Tselikis said the program, funded through a grant, is part of the school district’s emphasis on promoting nutrition and exercise. She and a group of students soon will begin raising funds for a greenhouse at Saco Middle School to grow vegetables year-round.

“This experience has shown us children really love doing hands-on food growing,” Tselikis said.

The experience also showed the children how fun it is to give away the food they grow, Tselikis said. At the end of the day, students loaded up bags of lettuce to take home to their families and dropped a  large box of cucumbers off at a nearby retirement community.