Garden Boxes at the SRSS
- Jackie Willis
- Jul 14, 2017
- 2 min read
I hope my enthusiasm is contagious, my passion is educational and my contributions have been productive. I have learnt so much, in such a short period of time, working with the Garden Club at the SRSS this year.
It has been quite a year at the SRSS with a lot of successful contributions by the Garden Club. There has been so many contributing members who have worked tirelessly to create a successful year. Coming into the garden club this year, it was quite amazing to see how much has been accomplished in such a short period of time. What started as a small club with composting has continued to grow and develop into something that has been a proud accomplishment for the SRSS.
I am fairly new to gardening and composting myself; this year I started my Masters of Education degree in Sustainability, Creativity and Innovation through Cape Breton University. I have learnt so much through my courses, professors and colleagues in the program- I started gardening and composting at home and it has not only been a valuable experience for me but also my family. There is such a sense of accomplishment when growing and producing your own food, the satisfaction of going out to the garden to pick the food to make for supper is so very rewarding, not to mention educational to see all of the work that goes into growing that single carrot or head of lettuce- it makes one much more appreciative of where food comes from.
Through the garden club at the SRSS, I thought about all of our connections: connections with each other and nature- analyzing how learning gardens can bring schools to life has been valuable because of the current state of the garden club at our school. In Learning Gardens and Sustainable Education, Williams and Brown (2012) mention, “The Learning Gardens express at once an education that is culturally relevant, ecologically appropriate, and pedagogically sound- a step toward sustainability” (Williams and Brown, 145). There are so many approaches we can take with our school garden- it connects our school community because we are such a large entity- it allows cross-curricular learning to come to life, as well as collaboration between student groups and teachers. The construction classes built all of the garden boxes, many of our science, math and ELA students helped move and fill the boxes while the garden club kids planted seeds in early spring using the greenhouse lights and met with the culinary students to plan the items to be planted that will be used in the kitchen in the fall.
I really believe this is just the beginning of more great things to come, with a committed group of teachers and students, we will continue to grow and develop the club with bigger projects and creative ideas that will be beneficial for the whole student body. Thanks for a great start!
References:
Williams, D., and Brown, J. (2012). Learning Gardens and Sustainable Education: Bringing Life to Schools and Schools to Life. New York and London: Routledge.