Fall fun: Gateway finds way to bring pumpkin patches to students
Elementary students in Gateway couldn’t visit local pumpkin patches this year because of pandemic restrictions, so teachers and Family Teacher Organization members brought the fall-favorite activity to them.
Stephanie Forga, a kindergarten teacher at Evergreen Elementary School, hatched the idea for Evergreen when she realized traditional plans to visit a pumpkin patch would have to be ditched.
Instead, she said, she called Schramm’s Farms and Orchards and asked them about bringing pumpkins and other fall decorations to the school. The farm agreed. In all, the farm brought 300 small pumpkins, hay bales and corn stalks to the school – where teachers created a “pumpkin patch” and photo booth.
Forga, who also serves as the school’s Family Teacher Organization president, said the farm only charged the FTO around $500 for the items.
Students then were able to come to the patch to pick out their favorite pumpkin and take a photo. The activity was spread out over several days in October to allow them to comply with health guidelines.
Forga said the school also held a pumpkin-decorating contest.
“We gave them about a week to decorate it. And so I was thinking we would get 20 back – we got 96 pumpkins decorated and turned in. It surpassed every expectation,” she said.
Forga said students will vote on their favorite pumpkin, and the winners receive a lunch with her and an online shopping spree from Amazon.
She said everyone who participated in the contest will also receive a certificate and a voucher from Giant Eagle that allows them to get a free cookie every time they visit the grocery store.
“It’s obvious these kids put heart into every design,” Forga said. “We wanted everyone to be recognized for their participation.”
The activity was so successful that the other three elementary schools and Moss Side Middle School organized their own versions.
At University Park Elementary, the teachers got pumpkins and other decorative items from Gearhard Farms and Daugherty Orchards. Every student there received a pumpkin and an apple.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” said Lisa Aiello Reed, a parent of three young children in Gateway. “In a time like this, where elementary parties and so many other things are canceled, it’s so precious to kids.”
At Moss Side Middle School, students carved pumpkins at home and sent photos in to be judged for a carving contest.
Gateway School District’s reopening plan offered students three options on learning during the coronavirus pandemic. The options included a hybrid model, where two groups of students alternate in-person and remote learning; a cyber academy; and a remote learning model dubbed GATE, or Gateway Academic Transitional Education. The latter is similar to the district’s cyber academy, but it offers students both live and recorded instruction.
Parents were given the option to switch learning models recently. They had until Oct. 25 to switch plans.
The move came amid rising covid-19 cases in the district. The latest count, according to an Oct. 21 district letter written by the district’s assistant superintendent and pandemic coordinator, included two administrative staff members who tested positive. Twenty-five people in the district have tested positive for the virus since Sept. 22.
It is unclear how many parents opted to change learning plans, and district administrators were not immediately available for comment.
“This was a fun experience, I’m so glad everyone was able to do it,” Forga said. “The kids have had a lot of things taken away from them the past seven or eight months. So the FTO is really trying to provide experiences to make school more normal and enjoyable.”
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