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.
