Producing Results
On seven acres, students at Marco F. Forster Middle School plant broccoli, lettuce, celery, bok choy and strawberries--yielding enough to pepper their school lunches with fresh produce and still fill several trucks with leftovers for a local food bank.
But that’s not all.
Self-esteem, leadership skills and cooperative spirit also grow out of the San Juan Capistrano school’s garden project, which is funded in part by two state grants to promote nutrition and reduce violence.
“It’s good for people who never planted before because they learn where food comes from,” said Maria Cornejo, 14, as she crouched over the dirt and pulled weeds with other students in her home economics class. “And you make a lot of friends, all different kinds.”
Teacher Linda Boehm, who coordinates the year-old project known as Common Ground, said teachers in nearly every subject have used the garden to bring lessons to life. “We have approached this from many angles,” she said.
For example, math students survey the triangular field before planting to calculate how many rows can be tilled and how much profit could be made if the crops were sold. Science students analyze soil samples. Others write about their experiences in the field or research how agriculture evolved in other cultures.
At harvest, crops are sold to a school catering service and are served in dozens of cafeterias, including the one at Marco Forster. Students also are free to stuff broccoli and celery stalks into their backpacks and carry the harvest home. The leftovers--which amounted to 15,000 pounds last year--are donated to Orange County Harvest to feed the hungry.
But perhaps the greatest benefit of the garden is teaching the school’s 1,550 students to work together.
“Students here go to four different high schools, two of which are rival turfs,” said Boehm. “What happens here is they all work together as a team. Then when they go on to
different schools, they can play together on rival teams or live in rival turfs and still be friends.”
In the field, children of gardeners and farm workers take pride in their knowledge of plants, and Spanish speakers gain stature because they can converse with Raul Garcia, the veteran field supervisor who is on loan to the school from his employer, grower A.G. Kawamura.
“My family lived on a ranch in Mexico. I know this stuff. This is easy,” said Jesus Garcia, 13, with a boastful swagger. “The best thing about it,” he added, “is we use it to feed the hungry people.”
Common Ground was born from a conversation between Boehm and Kawamura, both graduates of the UC Davis school of agriculture. Boehm was looking for ways to reduce violence and gang involvement; Kawamura wanted to teach young people about agriculture. They convinced the school district to let them use a dirt lot that had been set aside as an eventual elementary school site.
Kawamura donates equipment and staff for big jobs. Local businesses and service clubs provide tools and seedlings. Grants pay for Boehm’s time and miscellaneous expenses. And the students do the rest.
Like Marco Forster, at least a half dozen Orange County schools have learned that gardens can be valuable cross-curriculum tools.
“Everything can be taught through the garden, from nutrition to the migration of moths,” said Howard Fisher, a resource specialist at Richard Henry Dana Elementary School in Dana Point, who supervises student work on a 2,000-square-foot flower and vegetable garden.
Fisher, who comes from a family of avid gardeners, started work three years ago on a dirt-and-weed lot behind the school. It is now a series of raised beds planted in roses and orchids, tomatoes and herbs.
Stones hauled from nearby beaches and concrete pavers made by children at the school line the pathways. A concrete bench, built last month to honor a retired custodian, provides a quiet and peaceful spot to rest.
“Gardening is good for the soul, don’t you think?” said Fisher, as he stooped to pluck an errant weed from the rose bed.
Fisher said he works with many students with learning disabilities, including a number with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. Those students in particular benefit from the focused work of gardening, and delight in watching the life cycle of plants, Fisher said.
“Working on a garden is a great socialization process,” said Fisher. “Children at risk, especially the learning disabled, can get left behind. This instills responsibility, pride, and leadership.”
Such lessons haven’t been lost on the California Department of Education.
Three years ago, state schools Supt. Delaine Eastin, announced a goal of a garden in every school. To help, her department has provided 400 schools with $1,000 each for expansive farms, roof gardens and everything in between.
The department also offers free “school garden start-up packets”, with booklets on planting and composting, names of helpful organizations and web sites, and suggestions for incorporating gardening into lessons.
A survey in 1996 found that at least 1,000 schools in California already had gardens. When a new survey is taken in January, garden promoters hope to see the number doubled.
“There has been a lot of talk about gardening in schools around the country,” said Deborah Tamannaie, who runs the program through the department’s nutrition program. “The interest is building.”
