Utilising the natural environment as a catalyst for learning, Salada Foods adopted a novel approach to literacy education by integrating garden activities into its activities for Read Across Jamaica Day on Tuesday, May 7.

The company, which is home of the renowned Jamaica Mountain Peak brand of coffees and teas, orchestrated an immersive literacy event at Jebb Memorial Basic School engaging children in three-dimensional learning.

Highlighting the untapped potential of outdoor spaces as educational resources, Tamii Brown, General Manager at Salada Foods said, “It offers endless opportunities for learning and exploration; as quickly as the students stepped out of the classrooms and into the schoolyard, we recognised how it ignited their curiosity and stimulated their imaginations.”

The activities kickstarted with Nadine Francis, quality assurance manager at Salada Foods, leading a captivating reading session with approximately 35 students between the ages of two and six, centred around a book of the Ready Steady Readers series titled, The Little Red Hen and the Wheat.

Following the story, Francis and the Salada Foods team facilitated a discussion with the little readers about their lessons learnt to encourage critical thinking.

In a momentous collaboration, Salada Foods and the ESIROM Foundation gifted Jebb Memorial Basic School with a raised garden plot, sparking excitement among the students and teachers alike. The hands-on learning opportunity is not only aimed at fostering literacy skills, said Brown, “but is meant to cultivate a deeper understanding of their natural environment. It was truly a pleasure for our team to watch all the little ones participate, and partake in the reading and gardening activities alongside our sustainability partners at ESIROM.”

“With the sun’s rise tomorrow, we hope to see a renewed passion for growth among the children at Jebb. Today, we’ve witnessed the joy students experience from reading about living things, to every stage of gardening – from preparing the plot, to planting and even nurturing the seedlings. We want the raised garden plot to enrich their curriculum,” Brown added.

Prior to the visit, the children were provided with fudge sticks to craft labels for a diverse array of plants including herbs like rosemary, thyme, basil, fruit trees and sunflowers. Some of these plants were placed into the planter as part of the activities.

According to Leonie Salmon Wong-Sue, Principal at the basic school, the addition of the garden will serve as a valuable resource for integrating literacy and even mathematics into experiential learning whilst meeting the learning and development requirement.

Wong Sue remarked, “Read Across Jamaica Day already provides a unique opportunity for our children to engage with books beyond the classroom curriculum, and today was certainly extra special with the playground and garden serving as a living classroom. Literacy should begin at home, from the moment a child can speak so by the time they transition into the school environment, they are ready for bigger activities but it isn’t always the case. These events always make that transition fun for all of us. We welcome the garden because it complements our curriculum for our four-year-olds who are learning about plants and farms.”

“We would love to be able to take the children outside to learn every day or at least twice for the week, but our school is in a noisy area. Nonetheless, it was a good learning experience and exposure for the children. In my role as principal, I have embraced Jebb Memorial as a historical institution, and I believe that when conceptualisers leave a legacy, it is our responsibility to nourish and build upon it. That’s what Salada Foods can expect our teachers and students to do with the garden,” added Wong-Sue, reflecting on her tenure as principal since 2014.

With approximately 48 students at Jebb Memorial Basic School, the garden initiative holds promise for transforming the way literacy is taught by the teaching body and experienced by the students. By harnessing the power of the outdoors, Salada Foods aims to cultivate a literate, environmentally-conscious generation. In addition to the reading and gardening activities, Salada Foods extended a sincere gesture of appreciation by presenting gifts to the devoted teachers and staff at the institution in anticipation of Teacher’s Day.