Gardening at School – Making it Happen!

On Earth Day this year, our KPS students will be biking to Kauapea Farms to work in the garden all together for a couple of hours and to share some of the bounty from the garden. We are REALLY excited!

KPS is lucky to have an ever expanding garden program. The roots of the program go back a few years ago when a few parents approached me about integrating gardening into the curriculum. Many of our units of discovery had natural ties to the garden so when one parent said she had gotten us into the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center School Garden Teacher Training and that she would pay her own way if we could find a way to pay for a teacher to go, we jumped at the opportunity. The PTSA kicked in some money to send the teacher and a small garden program was born. We started by asking parents to meet and brainstorm some ideas. Luckily we live in a semi-rural area and many of the school’s parents are farmers so we had loads of expertise. Our campus is tiny so we decided to build some garden boxes outside a few of the classrooms, to offer a garden elective in our elective program and to start a Monday Market where we would ask parents to bring excess produce/goods from their homes/properties to school. Class parents take turns hosting the market and funds go back into sustainability related projects. The program stayed this way for a couple of years with the addition of several more garden boxes in Fall of 2008.

During the 2008-2009 school year,  we were invited to a session with Linda Redfeather who runs a School Garden Network on the Big Island of Hawaii as part of the Kohala Center. Several other educators were there including representatives from Kaua’i Community College. Linda inspired all of us including one of the school’s parents, Jillian Seals, who runs a nearby CSA and education center for some of KCC’s students. Jillian invited some of us to the farm and we brainstormed various ideas on how we could expand our garden program and start a partnership with the farm. After working through insurance and bathroom issues, Kauapea Farms agreed to allow us to use a 2000 square foot plot. We decided each class would get 12 weeks in the garden. They would go every Friday right after lunch for a double block. Parents would have to help us drive since we couldn’t afford to rent a bus each week but the garden is only about 2 miles away. We also scheduled the garden sessions for each class when they would be studying units that aligned with work in the garden.  We started the program in December 2009 and can’t believe how amazing it has been.  Here is why we think it’s working:

• The teachers from Kauapea Farms collaborate with our classroom teachers prior to the start of each session and keep in contact throughout the twelve weeks. We are also lucky in that several of our classroom teachers have strong science backgrounds and gardening experience. 
• We communicate with parents before the start of the session about the program and explain all the guidelines for the garden trips and for the composting part of the program. 
• Students are BUSY at the farm – they each have their own plot to tend – planting, weeding, pruning, harvesting etc. in addition to helping with other farm duties including planting starts, composting, weighing the harvest and compost and all sorts of other farm related activities. 
• The work in the garden is connected to projects the students are doing in their core classes. 
• Having the parents drive means that we have parents working in the garden side by side. Some have their own gardens and some have never gardened. The parent-child interaction has been beautiful to watch. 

Although the program is new, we are thrilled with how it is unfolding. Having kids engaged in the garden to learn about science & health, including the life cycle, how to grow healthy, organic produce, healthy eating and where their food comes from is really helping us to ensure that our students are living our core values by becoming exemplary stewards of sustainability! Check out some photos of our Garden program and if you’d like to learn more about the program, contact us at info@kauaipacific.org. 

Inspirational Learning Center – Designing with Heart

Today I was treated to a personal tour of Palm Academy on Coronado Island in San Diego. Palm is devoted to helping at-risk students who are struggling with the traditional program at Coronado High School. Palm is a school of last resort. Not the kind of place you’d expect to see traditional district officials and/or bureaucrats investing a lot of time or money. Not the place you’d send one of your best and brightest administrators and certainly not a place for the faint-hearted. However, the vibe at Palm is noticeably different from other continuation high schools. First of all, Principal Kevin Nicolls is different than your regular principal. A kite boarder, rock climber and snowboarder, Kevin wears t-shirts and shorts to school on most days. Kevin spent several years working in the educational sector of the juvenile justice system. He is also working on a dissertation in Educational Technology. Kevin spent his late teens and his twenties in Coronado and in fact, used to take Auto Shop and Pottery classes in the space that Palm now occupies. Kevin also serves as Faculty Advisor to the Coronado High School Sailing Team, sits on the Student Support Team and serves as the Administrative Tech Leader for the district. Kevin is independent, and some might say, provocative when it comes to his views on education. When Kevin talks about the vision for the Palm Campus, he lights up. He talks about bringing together stakeholders to ensure a quality learning space representing the needs of students, staff, parents and community members. He talks about the importance of retaining original architectural elements. He talks about the importance of natural lighting, of flow and of making sure there were enough windows both internal and external to allow for learning to permeate through the walls. He talks about ensuring plenty of gathering spaces for informal and formal learning. He proudly shows off the hard hats that all the students wore to symbolize their role in the design and building process. Looking at the plaque at the entrance to the school, you can see the personal touch in the names and monikers. Things like Kevin Nicolls, ringleader and Joyce, grandmother and dream facilitator. Somehow, in this small space he has squeezed in offices, classrooms, a culinary arts kitchen, garden beds, a basketball court, multiple seating areas, storage and bathrooms! Amazingly books are stored above the 10 foot line in custom built shelves, accessible by an attached, sliding, library ladder. The two white boards slide up and down, one behind the other – an idea from a student. The technology system is incredible and includes 20 desktops, a multimedia ceiling projector, video, audio, and a sound field system. The students have everything they need for the type of individualized and cooperative learning that takes place at Palm. Somehow when you walk through the campus, you feel the mana – the deep spirit of love and energy that came from those who worked together to create this magical learning space for the kinds of children who need it the most. I was inspired by the vision, the out of the box thinking from the outset, the execution of the design and of course the aesthetics of the finished product. If you are thinking about designing and building a new school facility, you should definitely make a visit to Palm Academy.