"A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them." - Liberty Hyde Bailey
I love this quote about gardening because it encompasses what educators try to do for their students.
Students at our middle school struggle with many of the same things that middle school students across the country deal with - social media, unhealthy choices, academic struggles, difficult home environments. Our school has a garden area set aside. It was once thriving but has been ignored the last several years. I've restarted "Green Team" Club. Our goal is to create a peaceful space to not only grow vegetables and flowers, but also to spend meditative time in to connect with nature and friends, free from outside pressures.
My Project
My students are working hard to resurrect our abandoned school garden space. We will be planting vegetables and flowers as well as a relaxing space to spend time in.
So far the students have worked to create diagram of the space, growing plans, and LOTS of clean up!
For many of the students participating in our "Green Team" there are multiple benefits. It allows them to invest in their school environment but also, for many it give them a relaxing, unassuming place to enjoy their lunch in the fish bowl of middle school.
Adding a picnic table will allow them to have a place to enjoy the new garden space they've worked hard to create and socialize with each other during lunch.
More than a third of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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