The After School Club, it's a start:

I have had challenges recruiting for my after school gardening club. 

There are announcements scheduled for every day, both in the mornings and afternoons; but they are often forgotten or overlooked and as a result are not always shared with the school. On top of that, the middle school students have plenty of extra-curricular activities to chose from. Despite low numbers (okay, one student signed up for the first club,) I insisted we meet although I was a bit disheartened at first.

During that first club, as I was planning for three-hours with one student, I realized that I could provide an awesome opportunity for that student. We met after school and had three hours, we planted Italian Basil and garlic. We transplanted carrots (Although carrots should generally be directly planted; I did not have the soil to start carrots from seed in large containers, the students insisted on planting them, and I could not say no to them). We went over all of the different plants already growing in the greenhouse: if he didn't know what one of them looked like or tasted like, we talked about it and looked it up in a book or online. Then we watered everything in the greenhouse and made some calculations as to just how many containers we would need to transplant all of the sprouts shooting up out of the little starter containers. After all of that, we were done. 

Now, a bit about the student: he's a little shy but then, once you hit a topic he enjoys he's non-stop for a good ten minutes. He also does not really enjoy school but he likes to garden. He actually told me that he likes every part of gardening; even the not-so-pleasant bits, like carrying water and weeding. Before he left, we discussed watering. I asked him if he'd like to water a few days a week; he said he could water every day he has after school activities (4 days each week). Additionally, we talked about how that might get overwhelming and time consuming once we have everything transplanted. He said he didn't care but I told him we could talk about it each time we met, just to be sure he still wanted to water four days a week. Before he left, I asked him if he had a good time. "This was awesome" was his reply.

With that, the first Club concluded. I was overjoyed to be able to provide him with three hours of activity in the greenhouse and that he had enjoyed his afternoon.

A few weeks later, in early December, we met again. He had been watering each day he could and the sprouts looked great. The students who help me during the school day had started this process but I was hopeful that I could make progress during the after school club. At this school, over 300 plants had sprouted up and would need new homes before Christmas Break. For this Club, a second student had signed on. She was sweet and a bit shy as well; they made for an interesting pair. 

During the second Club meeting, the two of them moved quicker than I had expected. We actually ran out of soil. (A slight issue with a purchase order here.) We did quite a bit of planning, labeling, and moving around; it was a lesson in organization really. We made decisions about where to put each of the newly transplanted plants based on the conditions available (there are a few shelves in this greenhouse and I wanted them to be sure the tomato plants did not end up on lower shelves so they would have room to grow) and how much room they would need to keep each variety grouped together.

Both of them said they had a wonderful time and with that we concluded our second Club afternoon.

Then, late last week, I heard from the Principal that the mother of the boy in my club had called the school. She wanted to tell the Principal that he was pretty sick on the day of the second club meeting but went to school anyway; he wanted to go to Club. She also told the principal that he used to drag his feet on schooldays; he did not want to go to school. Now however, he looks forward to it; he needs to water in the greenhouse. 

My heart sang. 

Planting 101, it’s titled.

Last week, I taught my planting lesson to a group of 8^th graders. It’s not my first time teaching the lesson; I’ve become a bit more comfortable with it but each time is different.

This time, we had a shortened day for a talent show in the afternoon; which meant: Speed Planting 101. That’s what I have started calling my modified lesson plan, although the students do not seem to find it very entertaining, it helps them move a little quicker. Ultimately, regardless of the time they tend to have a great time planting (and learning). And that’s one of the greatest benefits of moving students outside of the “classroom.” When desks, chalk boards, computers, are all taken out of the “classroom,” students experience a weird shift. 

Suddenly, they think of learning differently, at least for a little while.

Prep: This step is important, especially in Speed Planting 101. I take about 15 minutes to set up small containers; these are intended for growing starters for eventual transplant: one or two for each student. (I have found that even if larger containers are available the small trays of starter containers make it easier and faster for students to get several seeds planted in a short period of time.) Then, I dumped soil into large colorful containers and spaced them between a couple sets of containers. Note: Each student should have easy access to soil. If available, I place trowels in the buckets of soil, some students prefer this; others like to get their hands dirty(which ones like to work directly with the soil will likely be a bit of a surprise!), as one student noticed, after planting, “My hands look like a coal miner’s!” (This is the West Virginia, after all!) It’s also important to be sure water is available to water the seeds after planting, and for the students to wash up after they have finished planting.

Class begins: When class began I started with a simple “raise your hand if” question, “Who has planted from seed before?” From there, I moved on to introducing the fundamentals of planting. At 8^th grade, most students know everything needed to nurture seeds but typically, they need a refresher and time to think about what seeds will need to awake from their dormant state and begin to sprout and grow. The most important here is nutrients (soil), water, soil temperature (and less so, air temperature), and sunlight. Most often, students forget about soil temperature but this can be coaxed out of them. (I am currently working with a gifted class - my primary goal does not include Content Standards and Objectives; I am trying to help the students develop critical thinking and higher-level analytical skills.)

Onward, to planting: Once we cover the basics, I quickly moved to the essentials of planting. Soil in each cell or container of the trays first; be sure to lightly pack the soil. Then, the rule of thumb: seeds should be planted one length underneath the soil. For example, carrot seeds are tiny, so it is a good idea to fill containers with soil and then place a few seeds in each container, then sprinkle with a light layer of soil. With smaller seeds it has been helpful to tell students to pour their seeds into their non-writing hand and then pinch seeds to plant using their writing hand. Pumpkin seeds are large, so can be planted by gently pushing them into the soil with the larger end towards the bottom of the container. (Depending on the seed packet and the size of the class, students can also read their seed packets to try to decipher seeding depth. During Speed Planting however, I find this challenging, and go with the rule of thumb.) Next, the seeds should be covered with soil.

During planting I constantly moved about the “classroom.” Students had questions but were often hesitant to ask or better yet, they shared ideas that helped the rest of the students with their planting. (These ideas should be relished and shared with the class!)

(a student labeling their work for the day!)

As some students begin to finish planting their trays of containers, I asked them to begin to wash up. After, I asked students to label their trays with a piece of tape and permanent marker or pencil! Each label should contain the name of the plant and date. Usually, when time is available, I have asked students to gently water their seeds.

As the students washed up and finished labeling, I asked the students what they thought about their day planting. To this, one student asked if he could stay and plant in the greenhouse all day. (While I’d love that, I’d probably get in trouble, and miss a few content standards and objectives.)

An additional challenge I added to this speed lesson was inviting a local reporter, Kristen Conner to come and video the students planting. Hopefully, this will ultimately be part of a larger series and will display the goals of the program here, which include: teaching students about the business of gardening and farming, to show students that farming can be a career choice, and to build an interest in cultivating food and learning more about the food they eat on a daily basis. (This led to a short 45 second piece, that's too short for WVVA's website - but in the future, stay tuned: this reporter loves my students' greenhouse and gardening projects!)

Now, to what I learned: One of the greatest things about incorporating school gardening into schools is that often, students know more or know different intricacies of planting that I never could have imagined or anticipated. And that is awesome because teaching is great, but students teaching students; well, I love that!! For example, in a previous planting session, a student gently reminded me that carrots bunch, so really, they should be planted with at least a few seeds in each container. I had forgotten that. What a fantastic way to be reminded. 

My office, well, my office is a funny story.

This is one of my offices:

It is a greenhouse, attached to a school, in the Wild and Wonderful, West Virginia.

The conditions: It’s a little wet (which is concerning, especially when plugging in my laptop), impossible to keep clean, fluctuates in temperature from 60F to 85F (regardless of the thin windows and outdoor temperature), and the soil, the soil is pervasive. But it’s wonderful because it’s exactly what it should be and what it needs to be.

As a result, with the floors constantly wet, and the messy floors, I wear sandals; typically with a pair of jeans (rolled up because wearing real shoes is a recipe for a day with wet feet and pants, and that just makes me crabby). When my colleagues aren’t too familiar with what I do or the conditions of my office, I feel underdressed and a bit sloppy but then, to my students and my colleagues who I work with on a daily basis, my attire tells a different story.

And the story is great: The greenhouse is my office but then, it doubles as a classroom and triples as a fantastic environment for growing. I am currently working in this office with a few different classes of middle school students. I provide enriched learning opportunities for each student who enters the greenhouse. As I make stronger connections with teachers, I anticipate being able to work hand-in-hand with teachers to give them an alternative to teaching their State Content Standards and Objectives in their traditional classrooms.

My second office is also a greenhouse; it’s nearly a half-hour drive from the first. Here, there are sprouts shooting up from trays of starter containers. These seeds were planted a week ago with a lovely group of 7^th and 8^th grade boys. Their teacher was away the day they planted but this week she was back. They could not wait to show her what they’d planted; to tell her all about what they did the week before and to help me engineer an efficient and effective watering system. (An enriched learning experience.) Together, we walked down the hall to the greenhouse. Most of the way I worried; had I been there to water enough? Was the greenhouse warm enough through nights to keep the soil temperature between 60-70F, so the seeds could germinate?

While the students walked, filled with anticipation, I worried my way all the way to the greenhouse.

When we opened the door, I realized I wasted my time; the boys quickly discovered that we had sprouts! After seven days, and right on time, the spinach and basil had germinated and further, pushed their way through the thin layer of soil placed over them during planting. It was simple and natural really: nutrients, water, and warm soil and those seeds just popped up and out of the soil. By the end of the day, more shoots appeared. My worries and fears resolved.

And here's the funny part: If someone had told me, a year ago that this is where I’d be: walking down the hallway of a school in West Virginia, worrying about whether or not seeds had sprouted, and working in a greenhouse, teaching kids about gardening and food, and advocating for local food in school cafeterias; I would have laughed. It would have been an entertaining story. Last year, I was living in Boston, taking medical leave from working at a bakery and café after a horrific accident. Presently, more or less, I have recovered. And beyond that, I am pursuing my professional dream. So funny, this would have seemed comical a year ago but now, now it just makes me smile.

(Smile, despite the reoccurring worries of watering schedules over school breaks, constant concerns over the greenhouse failing, and trying to figure out how I can get more students out of the traditional classroom and into the greenhouse… and that’s just the beginning.)

cheers to the youth.

MGMT: The Youth, they sing:

The youth is starting to change

Are you starting to change?

Are you?

Together

I can’t help but think – indeed.

The youth are starting to change and we are starting to change in response; we are changing together. Our responsiveness is something they need. They need us to change. They need something very different from nearly everything we have been giving them. They need us to give them rules, to follow through, to discipline them, and to provide them with guidance and mentors. Their actions, habits, behaviors, it is all showing us that we need to provide something different for them. We need to change for them, together change needs to happen.

We need to start teaching them how to be children: how to imagine, create, explore, and work well with others, how to share, build a fort, and make a mess (and then also clean that mess up). And after all of that, at the appropriate time, we need to teach them how to be adults: how to be independent, responsive, and diligent, how to manage their finances and take care of their family, friends, and community. Regardless of their age, they need to be responsible and respectful. Most importantly, they need someone to teach them how to do all of this.

Where we have become more responsive to these needs is in our decision to create and sustain farm to school programs. Farm to school: a three-pronged approach to building connections between farms and schools. 1) school gardens, 2) nutritional education and 3) assisting schools in their efforts to purchase food from nearby farmers. School gardening lessons and units take students out of their desks and classrooms and provide them with an opportunity for hands-on experiential learning. Students learn how to plant, nurture, harvest, and sell their produce. Then, students learn about a complete life cycle when they prepare their garden for the winter and return their scraps to the compost. Time outside of the traditional classroom gives students the time they need to build a relationship with the world around them. As they spend time in the dirt and monitoring the growth of their plants they begin to learn how other things grow and change over time. They learn that spending time outside can be a great time to explore (and in turn, as they mature into adulthood they grow with an intricate knowledge of the outside world and “outside” is no longer a dangerous place for their own children to explore.)

When children learn about how food grows, within them a sense of curiosity is aroused. They are more likely to try new fruits and vegetables; the same fruits and vegetables they have cultivated over the previous weeks and months, and with that we can begin to teach them how to appreciate what is on their plate when they sit down to eat a meal. In the kitchen, when preparing a feast for themselves and others, they will learn how to work well with others. At the table, their interest is piqued when they notice a purple carrot on their plate, the same one they dug up from the ground moments earlier. In these moments we have the opportunity to teach children about what eating well looks like. How what we eat will give our bodies the nutrients to live healthy lives or will force our bodies into survival mode. Meal time is also where we have the opportunity to teach students lifelong lessons about table manners, the value of sharing a meal with others, and etiquette.

Further, when schools are able to foster relationships with the farming community that surrounds them, it gives children the opportunity to learn about farming and about a way of life. Here they will learn how others in their community live and contribute to the world around them through their work. With local food purchases schools have the opportunity to teach students about how they, as consumers, can have a positive impact on their community or can purchase outside of their community thereby actively choosing a stranger over a neighbor. Local procurement gives students a first-hand look at the give-and-take involved in community building and the awesome responsibility of being a part of something bigger than themselves.

If the youth succeeds in changing us, rather, if we can respond appropriately and adequately to their needs, then maybe, just maybe we can figure out how to help them not only survive in this world but how to thrive and become productive, responsible, independent, and respectful members of their communities. So yes, the youth is starting to change and we are starting to change together. And rightfully so,

Cheers to the future.

To the youth.

What is Farm to School?

Farm to school is a three-pronged approach, it includes: school gardening, nutrition education, and local food purchases for school cafeterias. It is an effort ultimately to help students actively think about what they eat, where it comes from, how it’s grown and makes its way to their plate, and what foods will help their bodies thrive. Farm to school programs or organizations are created to fit the needs of their communities. Some communities or schools have strong gardening initiatives but only purchase food from nearby farmers once or twice a year. Others have strong local procurement efforts but struggle to engage teachers in maintaining and sustaining school gardens and a strong nutritional education component. Regardless of the strength and weaknesses of each effort, they are all important and serving a need in their communities.

Pieces of me : a real introduction

I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I have an amazingly supportive family who would probably jump through hoops of fire for each other. They are wonderful. Now, 3/5 of us live in Minnesota, 1/5 of us in India and myself, I live in West Virginia.

I attended undergraduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. For 4 ½ years, I studied to become a secondary social studies teacher. Midway through my last semester in pursuit of a teaching degree I decided the program was not for me; I felt it did not challenge me in the way I wanted to be challenged. I changed my major to History and added another, Women’s Studies.

After graduation, I moved to Boston; Brookline to be precise. And with that I started a 5 year adventure in New England. I decided midway through this journey that my liberal arts education needed some balance. I wanted to learn more about finance, management, economics, and business. I enrolled and later graduated with a Masters of Business Administration in 2011. I ended my studies with a practicum focused on the business of Farm to School: how farmers can increase their market diversity and demand by selling to nearby schools and the potential for sales growth for farmers in this area.

My next step was to practice management. During school, I worked at a high-volume yet local bakery and cafe and after graduation, I decided to interview for the Assistant Manager position. I was offered the position and gratefully accepted and thus began another year and yet another adventure.

This adventure was rudely interrupted in October 2011, when I was struck by the trailer of a semi in the middle of my bicycle ride home from work. Let me just say, I owe my life to a large team of trauma responders. Five surgeries later, I was well on my way to recovery and had learned quite a bit about myself, my family and friends, and that really, one of the most important things in life is how we respond to it.

After two months of intense recovery, I was itching to get back to work; I was slowly able to do this. For eight months, I practiced and learned a lot about what managing really feels like. And while my coworkers were amazing and I was working hard, I was unfulfilled. I wanted to use what I studied in pursuit of my MBA and figure out all the nitty-gritty details of Farm to school.

In mid-August 2012, a friend from my MBA sent me a call for Farm to School workers. The hitch was that the open positions were in West Virginia. There were seven open positions, each set to serve a single county.

I had been to West Virginia once and during that first visit, over the course of a few days, I fell in love.

So I applied, and Labor Day weekend I drove 12 hours south for two interviews in two very different counties. Both counties were interested; one county's supervisor extended me an official offer within 18 hours of my interview; just as I put my car into park in front of my apartment in Massachusetts, after driving through the night and morning; I had slept at a rest stop a few hours from Boston.

I accepted.

And with that call, I gave notice and began to gather up my things in Boston/Cambridge.

Eleven days later, after I finished packing my material possessions into a box and my car, I started driving toward Alderson, WV to stay with the same friend who had forwarded me the original job posting. I arrived twelve hours before my first day. Since then, it has been full speed ahead. I have been purchasing everything from seeds, dirt, and books, writing lesson plans and teaching them on a weekly basis, relearning Content Standards and Objectives and the bureaucracy of public education, all in the name of teaching children about food, nutrition, and what it is like to live well. 

So here I go, full speed ahead into the Wild and Wonderful, West Virginia.