Preschoolers from Morristown’s Collinsville Child Care Center, which is managed by the Greater Morristown YMCA, and high-schoolers from the Whippany Park Developmental Program celebrated Earth Day together on April 22. The Collinsville children took a bus to Whippany Park High School where they were in awe of the “big kids’” classrooms. The students all watched a video presentation about gardening, composting and taking care of the planet before venturing outside to explore Whippany Park’s garden space. The garden is not sprouted for the season but they were able to pick and smell fresh mint and uproot wild scallions already growing.
The highlight of the day was a special gardening demonstration. Each preschooler got to start his/her own seedling, planting vegetable or flower seeds in a pot to take back to school. The Collinsville children will be starting their own fruit and vegetable garden this spring and will be able to transplant their seedlings. The Whippany Park Developmental Program is run by Maria Camacho, lead special education teacher, and Collinsville’s director is Bea Yuan.
