Gardening in Schools

In fall 2014, I interned with a non-profit called Enrich LA. Their goal was to build gardens in all the schools in Los Angeles Unified School District. That's a lot of schools. I was at three schools: Bell, CA, Silverlake, CA, and Boyle Heights, CA. My experience from this internship was an eye-opener to say the least.

Most of the kids I worked with spoke both Spanish and English. Knowing some Spanish, I was able to communicate with students that weren't able to speak English. 

Anyways, each week I would assist the "garden ranger" on educating the children during a 30 minute time period. Students would attend a weekly gardening class for five weeks. Each week was a different lesson. One week would be a discussion on composting, while the next would be on important and harmful bugs in the garden. At some gardens, students were able to experience harvesting or planting, while others garden maintenance such as pulling weeds or watering. This was not hard labor for the kids, in fact, they actually enjoyed pushing wheel-barrows or shoveling compost. They lived for getting their hands dirty if it meant getting out of class.

I am all for implementing gardens in schools. Gardens allow students to experience agriculture, something that would not normally be taught in schools (except what's in history or science textbooks). Have you ever grown a tomato and when it was ready, and pulled it right off the plant? Did that tomato taste amazing or what? There is something about fresh fruit, veggies, and meat that just taste amazing! Most kids might not get to experience anything fresh. 

Above is a picture taken of me and my favorite special education class at Utah Street Elementary School in Boyle Heights, CA. They were my absolute favorite! The looks on their faces when I showed them the garlic they grew... it was like Christmas for them! They were so amazed and excited. As we get older, I think we take many things for granted. We do not appreciate what God and nature has to offer. For me, watching a plant grow is an exciting process. Of course I don't sit and stare at a plant, I prefer to wait a few days to see its progress. I'm just a plant nerd in general. #plantnerd 

After obtaining my Master in Public Health, I hope to continue working in schools and implementing gardens for agricultural and nutritional education. I hope to be a pediatric nutritionist. #agricultureinschools