STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Syringa Mountain School will hold a Fall Garden Party from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden.

There’ll be demonstrations and exhibits showing how the school integrates nature, art and music into the fabric of education. And the school’s Farm & Garden program will serve up food harvested from Syringa’s Earthrise Garden, hors d’oeuvres created by students and locally sourced cocktails.

Inspirational speaker Julie Cajune will talk briefly about culturally and developmentally responsive education.

Syringa Mountain School is a free public charter school with open enrollment for children from kindergarten through sixth grade.

At the core of its Waldorf education is the intimate connection to nature through storytelling, creativity, celebrating the seasons and the development of a child’s inner spirit. It weaves gardening and food education into the curriculum among other things.

Recently, for instance, students prepared soup and mashed purple Peruvian potatoes that they had grown, then shared it with their families. Afterwards, they sang about the harvest and acted out a story about moving into colder months and the changes in work that the different seasons bring.

During the year they also chop and cook their daily snack, plant seeds and honor the change of seasons, bake bread and pies and pick fruits and vegetables.

The school participates in the National Farm to School Month during October, which children learn to  make informed food choices and about the power food has on our economy and health.

“Syringa celebrates a food culture that is virtually lost in today’s world of convenience,” said Syringa parent Jamie Truppi. “Slowly, lovingly and with awareness, Syringa students are engaged in the life cycle of plants and nature. And they grow up to respect food and its origins and the hard work that goes into preparing every meal.”

Tickets to the garden party are $75 for one ticket or $140 for two.

SCHOOL TOUR ON THURSDAY

Syringa Mountain School, which recently completed an expansion, is opening its doors to the public for a tour from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 2. The school is 4021 Glenbrook Drive, down the street from Power Engineers on Hailey’s south side.