CHESTER — Imagine growing 1,400 pounds of food in the middle of an urban area.
Combine the energy and enthusiasm of a group of Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Delaware County with children participating in after-school and summer programs at the Boys and Girls Club of Chester, and it becomes possible.
The program, in existence for over 10 years, started with two Master Gardener volunteers managing three raised beds, with the goal of teaching gardening skills to children.
Since then, the program has blossomed. Under the direction of Master Gardeners Lisa Craft and Jane Nyiri, the program now has eight volunteers helping to manage 23 raised beds and providing a variety of educational activities for nearly 150 children ages 6 to 12.
The overarching goal is to partner with the community to address food insecurities by introducing participants to food to which they might otherwise not have access.
Master Gardeners teach the children basic gardening skills, such as seed starting, transplanting seedlings, maintaining a garden, and harvesting the produce. During the 2023 growing season, from April to November, the children grew 26 types of fruits and vegetables. Among these were strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, zucchini, potatoes and collard greens.
The volunteers also help the children create a pollinator garden where they grow swamp milkweeds, asters, purple coneflowers, and goldenrod, among others. Here the Master Gardeners talk with the children about respecting their environment, introducing them to topics such as the importance of bees and monarch butterflies as pollinators and the plants that support them.
The learning extends beyond the garden with weekly cooking lessons on making nutritious meals from the garden produce. The menu varies and may include soups, quesadillas, eggplant parmesan, spinach salad or veggie pizza. One of the goals is to support cooking as a life skill, so recipes are provided to the children and produce is distributed for free to their families.
Beyond the opportunities for learning, the program creates social benefits as well. Craft and Nyiri emphasize that the program helps the children try new things and gives them a safe, accepting place in which they can be themselves.
The success of the partnership between the Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Delaware County and the Boys and Girls Club of Chester has garnered several awards: a first place Search for Excellence Award from Penn State Extension, first place in the Youth Division of the Delaware County Master Gardeners Garden Contest, and recognition from the Boys and Girls Club of Chester.
Donna Northern, director of operations for the Boys and Girls Club, commented, “It is amazing to see the pride on the children’s faces when they carry in produce they helped to grow, or the beaming smiles when they share food they prepared with their peers. Thanks to the dedication of the Master Gardeners, the children are gaining lifelong skills.”
For more information or to get involved in the outreach programs, visit https://extension.psu.edu/programs/master-gardener/counties/delaware.
William Penn School District to host kindergarten registration event
The William Penn School District will host a kindergarten registration event to assist parents and guardians with enrolling their children for the 2024-25 school year from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 28 at the district administration building, 100 Green Ave. Annex, Lansdowne.
This event is a great opportunity for parents to learn more about the district’s kindergarten program and to get assistance with the online registration process. Attendees can ask questions and receive clarification about kindergarten readiness and requirements.
Children must be 5 years old by Sept. 1 to be eligible for kindergarten registration. Online registration for kindergarten will run through March 31.
Parents can access the online registration portal and find more information about kindergarten registration on the district website at https://williampennsd.org/departments/registration.
For individual questions about kindergarten registration, contact the WPSD Registration Office at 610-284-8005 ext. 1234 or email contact@williampennsd.org.
The William Penn School District serves approximately 4,700 students who live in the communities of Aldan, Colwyn, Darby, East Lansdowne, Lansdowne and Yeadon. The district consists of eight elementary schools, one middle school, one ninth grade academy, one high school, and an online personalized learning community.
Darby to hold first regional bench press competition
Darby will host its first regional bench press competition from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 25 at the American Postal Workers Union Hall, 864 Main St.
The event will attract weightlifters from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The invitation to compete is open to men and women of all ages.
The event is being organized by Donald Townes, a former title holder of Mr. America in 1982 and Mr. Universe in 1985. He is currently the community relations corporal of the Darby Police Department.
This is a nonprofit event. All proceeds will cover direct costs and be dedicated to building this competition as a Darby community affair.
The athletic activity will help give residents of Darby a health and family-oriented event to further the borough’s efforts to combat crime as well as build a positive environment for youth.
Strength training has been recognized as an effective form of physical conditioning that supports a healthy lifestyle.
In 2022, the Harvard School of Public Health analysis concluded that “people who do muscle strengthening workouts are less likely to die prematurely than those who don’t.”
This information complements previous evidence that strength training has long-term health benefits. The study found that just 30 to 60 minutes a week of strength training may be enough. Benefits of power lifting can extend from weight management and bone density improvement to building confidence as well as muscular strength.
Townes, a resident of West Philadelphia, has worked with African American youth at risk throughout his career. For the past 10 years, Townes has also produced an old-school dance party which uses some proceeds to purchase technology devices for Darby elementary and middle schools.
For more information on the competition, email officertownes@gmail.com.
DCCC student awarded $7,500 Hites Transfer Scholarship
Edison Hong of Upper Darby, a fall 2023 graduate of Delaware County Community College, is one of 15 students nationwide to receive the 2024 Hites Transfer Scholarship from Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society for two-year colleges. Hong will receive a $7,500 scholarship for his baccalaureate studies.
The Hites Transfer Scholarship is awarded to Phi Theta Kappa members preparing to transfer to a bachelor’s degree-granting college or university. Winners were selected from 3,000 applicants nationwide for their outstanding academic achievement and rigor, leadership accomplishments and engagement in college and community activities.
Hong earned his associate degree with majors in computer science and business administration.
He now attends the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he majors in computer science with a specialization in intelligence and information internetworks. While at DCCC, he served as president and founder of the Computer Science Club, president of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, president of the Business Society, and vice president of the Science Club and the Engineering Club.
As a DCCC technical research assistant, in conjunction with help from the University of Pennsylvania, Hong worked with DCCC professor of Political Science Ife Williams on her project, “Mapping Resistance of Africans and African Descendants to Colonialism and Segregation, 1945-1990.”
The Hites Transfer Scholarship is made possible by support from the Hites Family Foundation and the Phi Theta Kappa Foundation. This is the largest scholarship Phi Theta Kappa awards to its members.
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