CHILDREN'S COALITION SAYS "BIENVENIDOS" TO FAMILIES ON SUPER SATURDAY

The Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana opened its community garden to the parents and children of Monroe for a morning of cultural education and outdoor fun as they celebrated Latin heritage.

From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, September 21, the Children’s Coalition hosted its monthly event, Super Saturday, which is held on the third Saturday of every month.
 
September’s Super Saturday event was also the Children’s Coalition’s annual Latin heritage event. Bilingual speakers and students from West Monroe High School’s Spanish club volunteered to help set up and run the event.

Activities included a Spanish language bingo game and an interactive gardening workshop in which the children could participate in all aspects of maintaining the community garden.
 
Students from the University of Louisiana at Monroe ran a health awareness booth, preparing several posters featuring the dangers of alcohol and prescription drug abuse. In the community garden area, children played with an old-style hand operated water pump and enjoyed tacos made with vegetables grown right in the garden itself.
 
Several parents and children attended the free event to enjoy the sun, fun and culture. Many parents were excited about the idea of their children getting to participate in the community garden, and the gardening experts made the process fun and engaging, even for the smaller children.

One mother described how the community garden gives her son an experience that can be difficult to find living in a city like Monroe. “I like that the kids can get in here and get their hands dirty and learn about nature and things like that-things that he doesn’t get at my house,” she said.
 
At one activity station where the children were asked to peel the leafy coating from a batch of seeds, this volunteer watched as one girl began peeling a seed, and in just a few seconds, another girl eagerly ran up to the station and asked, “Can I peel the seeds, too?”
 
This was the atmosphere as groups of children rotated around the various activity stations in the garden. While one group fertilized soil and planted seeds in an empty plot, other groups prepared seeds or followed a guide around the garden, learning about the different plants that had already been planted.
 
The play area of the community garden also demonstrated the virtues of recycling, with shredded rubber bits cushioning the ground and old pots, pans, spoons and spatulas hanged on the fence for the children to make their own “music.”
 
If you missed this Super Saturday event and would like to know when the next one will be held, or if you’re interested in other Children’s Coalition events, you can find schedule and volunteer information at www.childrenscoalition.org/events.