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<p>KINGSTON &#8212; Ryan Binkley knows the special needs students at the Graham Academy are capable of exceeding expectations.</p><p>The school&#8217;s public relations coordinator, Binkley has witnessed the hard work and resulting bounty the students generate every year from an expansive garden alongside the academy&#8217;s campus, and it&#8217;s a benefit that doesn&#8217;t end once the weather turns cold.</p><p>The garden is part of the school&#8217;s environmental enrichment program and students from kindergarten to 12th grade spend time digging, planting, weeding and harvesting produce used for meals in the school&#8217;s cafeteria. To keep those benefits going, the Graham Academy recently implemented a four-season garden that never stops producing.</p><p>&#8220;People may expect these to be limited in what they can achieve, but when you see them grow their own vegetables and do it through a garden that is active all four seasons, it shows that these kids are capable of amazing things,&#8221; Binkley said.</p><p>Under the guidance of environmental coordinator Richard Mitchell, the students utilize a greenhouse and seven low tunnels that keep vegetables such as kale, arugula, Swiss chard and broccoli producing throughout the winter.</p><p>&#8220;There are plants that like the cold weather just like tomatoes like the warmth,&#8221; Mitchell said. &#8220;Every month of the year there is always something fresh to eat.&#8221;</p><p>The students transition the garden during the fall by starting cold weather vegetable plants from seeds. When the temperature drops below freezing, covers are placed over the frames surrounding raised garden beds for protection. If a deep-freeze hits, a layer of plastic is added for another insulating barrier against the cold.</p><p>And through it all, students are in the garden every day maintaining compost bins, turning soil and gathering a harvest used in the meals prepared in the cafeteria.</p><p>While the garden provides plenty of nutritious vegetables, it also yields a valuable benefit for the school&#8217;s 87 students who live with autism or emotional challenges.</p><p>&#8220;Sometimes getting them to try something new is frightening for the students and challenging,&#8221; Binkley said. &#8220;The garden makes it easier.&#8221;</p><p>When the Graham Academy opened in 2008 and implemented its first garden, president/CEO Nick Ouellette saw how beneficial the program was to the students. The only challenge, Ouellette said, was finding a way to keep the kids involved with the garden on a yearly basis.</p><p>He turned to Mitchell, who came up with the four-season garden plan.</p><p>&#8220;There are so many opportunities that come about from the four-season garden,&#8221; Ouellette said. &#8220;When it comes to children with special needs, all too often the reaction is to pacify them. But the garden teaches them that there are things that depend on them. It really opens their eyes to see the full process of planting a seed and eating what they harvest.&#8221;</p><p>Eighth-grade student Brienne Newhart&#8217;s favorite bounty from the four-season garden is the kale.</p><p>But the lesson she takes from the garden is just as important.</p><p>&#8220;I like that we can do this all year long because it takes time to grow things,&#8221; Newhart said. &#8220;The garden is very exciting and it gives you skills as you learn how plants grow and what they need.&#8221;</p><p>Now that the garden is up and running all year long, Ouellette said school officials hope to continue expanding the opportunities. A produce stand at the entrance to the school along Third Avenue is planned for this spring which will give the older students skills such as sales, marketing and interacting with the public. The garden itself will also be expanded next year to include a butterfly garden, sitting area and, of course, more space to raise vegetables.</p><p>&#8220;The kids are constantly learning skills with this and they&#8217;re even coming to me with suggestions that I never thought of,&#8221; Mitchell said. &#8220;That&#8217;s the cool part. They learn patience and gain an understanding of how nature works.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Students in grades 1-3 along with their teachers at Graham Academy in Kingston look over the dinosaur kale growing in the schools winter garden before they start pruning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715wintergarden2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Students in grades 1-3 along with their teachers at Graham Academy in Kingston look over the dinosaur kale growing in the schools winter garden before they start pruning. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715wintergarden1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Michael, a student at Graham Academy in Kingston, helps Richard Mitchell prune the dinosaur kale growing in the school&#8217;s winter garden. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121715wintergarden1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Michael, a student at Graham Academy in Kingston, helps Richard Mitchell prune the dinosaur kale growing in the school&#8217;s winter garden. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Year-round garden at Graham Academy in Kingston teaches nature lessons to students with autism