Building Community through the School Garden
I have been "offered the opportunity" to plan the first school community garden workday.
The struggles are real and the benefits are many. The process brings into focus how everyone in our school community feels about the value of the garden as a space for teaching and learning and how comfortable they are with not being comfortable- on a physical level and so much more.
"Why do you need to do all that work?" (office staff question when asked to reserve a date on school calendar for Garden Work Day)
The garden is a mess. It is a mess because it has not been cared for over the summer, because the irrigation system is not working properly and it is no one's priority to fix it. It is a mess because it was not conceived of and planned as an educational space so it really shows when all the neat little rows and raised beds are not so neat.
Mahie (Garden Ed PPT) and I could do all the work, and then what? Will the students honor our efforts, will they learn anything about the value of work, what it takes to plan and restore and maintain a garden space? Will they take any pride in what the garden produces or care about trouble-shooting things when they go wrong? Will it be a garden the teachers make for the students or will it be an opportunity for them to be place-makers?
"Who will come?" (Curriculum Coordinator wondering about the role of volunteers)
It is a catch-22, we need school and community support but we do not have a strong cadre of volunteers yet. I can reach out to community organizations who use our school for meeting space and to families who participate in after school clubs and organizations whose parents may have the time and resources to contribute a Saturday morning to work. How will this approach reach a cross-section of our school? Will everyone who wants to be involved get the message? Can I accept students without parents at a workday- who will supervise them? If kids have to bring a parent how can I help those students deliver a compelling message to motivate parent participation?
Will community organizations contribute donations of materials, mulch and refreshments? Can I make this event productive in terms of the garden work and enjoyable enough that people will continue to come back in the future?
Is it just me? (A question I ask myself)
I feel so strongly about connecting our students to place and each other through the combined work of the school garden. I know kids will be more interested in trying healthy foods if they can grow some food themselves. I know our kids are going to inherit a new Maui with the pull-out of sugar on A&B lands and the very real possibility that promises of "diversified agriculture" is nothing more than more GMO- corn for cattle feed which pollutes our groundwater and promotes an industry that degrades the environment for years.
Can the garden be an engaging place for kids? Will the classroom teachers use it more if the students are excited and enthusiastic about the garden as a teaching and learning space? Is it possible that this is just too personal, that food security and food sustainability are too big for our school and our families and they just want cheap food from a big-box store?
I have a lot of anxiety and doubt- I am definitely UNCOMFORTABLE.
The struggles are real and the benefits are many. The process brings into focus how everyone in our school community feels about the value of the garden as a space for teaching and learning and how comfortable they are with not being comfortable- on a physical level and so much more.
"Why do you need to do all that work?" (office staff question when asked to reserve a date on school calendar for Garden Work Day)
The garden is a mess. It is a mess because it has not been cared for over the summer, because the irrigation system is not working properly and it is no one's priority to fix it. It is a mess because it was not conceived of and planned as an educational space so it really shows when all the neat little rows and raised beds are not so neat.
Mahie (Garden Ed PPT) and I could do all the work, and then what? Will the students honor our efforts, will they learn anything about the value of work, what it takes to plan and restore and maintain a garden space? Will they take any pride in what the garden produces or care about trouble-shooting things when they go wrong? Will it be a garden the teachers make for the students or will it be an opportunity for them to be place-makers?
"Who will come?" (Curriculum Coordinator wondering about the role of volunteers)
It is a catch-22, we need school and community support but we do not have a strong cadre of volunteers yet. I can reach out to community organizations who use our school for meeting space and to families who participate in after school clubs and organizations whose parents may have the time and resources to contribute a Saturday morning to work. How will this approach reach a cross-section of our school? Will everyone who wants to be involved get the message? Can I accept students without parents at a workday- who will supervise them? If kids have to bring a parent how can I help those students deliver a compelling message to motivate parent participation?
Will community organizations contribute donations of materials, mulch and refreshments? Can I make this event productive in terms of the garden work and enjoyable enough that people will continue to come back in the future?
Is it just me? (A question I ask myself)
I feel so strongly about connecting our students to place and each other through the combined work of the school garden. I know kids will be more interested in trying healthy foods if they can grow some food themselves. I know our kids are going to inherit a new Maui with the pull-out of sugar on A&B lands and the very real possibility that promises of "diversified agriculture" is nothing more than more GMO- corn for cattle feed which pollutes our groundwater and promotes an industry that degrades the environment for years.
Can the garden be an engaging place for kids? Will the classroom teachers use it more if the students are excited and enthusiastic about the garden as a teaching and learning space? Is it possible that this is just too personal, that food security and food sustainability are too big for our school and our families and they just want cheap food from a big-box store?
I have a lot of anxiety and doubt- I am definitely UNCOMFORTABLE.
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