3 Questions with Sonya Harris
Gardening in the Classroom
@proudNJteacher
1. LEeM: Why incorporate the concept of a garden/gardening into the classroom?
Sonya Harris: When children physically interact with a garden, learning becomes internalized. A vacant space on our school’s campus will physically evolve while transforming children to better utilize their natural curiosity and love for learning. Children will explore, dig, plant and watch plants (and their own learning) GROW while documenting the garden and its growth.
2. LEeM: How will this support student learning?
Sonya Harris: Lessons will come alive as students actively investigate while interacting within the garden/outdoor classroom. We will connect the concepts we teach in the classroom to real world experiences while integrating literacy, writing, math, science, social studies, art, music, nutrition, and even concepts of engineering and technology (utilizing STEM concepts/units). This will be done while immersing them in the beauty of nature, creating an interactive garden and integrating the Common Core Standards. We are currently also forging partnerships with the NJ Department of Agriculture Division of Food & Nutrition, Rutgers Family & Community Health Services Grow Healthy Program, NJ Agricultural Society Learning Through Gardening Program, and the NJ Farm to School Program to deliver professional development to staff on garden education and assist in bridging the school-home-community circle. We will also be providing healthy and fresh produce and promoting wellness for children and their families.
3. LEeM: What is the impetus for the garden?
Sonya Harris: I was in a school leadership team meeting last school year, and after the meeting several of us began talking and reminiscing about using an indoor gardening curriculum in our classrooms in prior years, where students grew and harvested ingredients for a salad. We all discussed how much fun it was to integrate garden education into our curriculum and see children become so incredibly invested in the care of the plants & were excited to eat the vegetables they harvested. We were able to teach across the curriculum, and thought how nice it could be to put a small garden at our school. I contacted celebrity landscaper Ahmed Hassan (@ahmadandahmed) via social media for advice, and he has been a wonderful mentor to us in advising our team on what is needed to establish a sustainable school garden. While in Philadelphia for a professional event, two of us were able to meet him & discuss this idea further. He connected us to a local South Jersey landscaper, Mike Pasquarello of Elite Landscaping in Berlin, NJ (www.elitelandscaping.com). Mike heard our ideas and met with us to design a beautiful garden space for our students. We established a planning committee and began fundraising to create this space for our students. With the guidance of these two experts, and with the kindness and generosity of others, we will be making the Bullock Elementary Children's Garden a reality for many generations of children in the Glassboro School District. Through this garden, we are planting the seeds of knowledge. There is no limit to the harvest we will produce!
Sonya Harris: When children physically interact with a garden, learning becomes internalized. A vacant space on our school’s campus will physically evolve while transforming children to better utilize their natural curiosity and love for learning. Children will explore, dig, plant and watch plants (and their own learning) GROW while documenting the garden and its growth.
2. LEeM: How will this support student learning?
Sonya Harris: Lessons will come alive as students actively investigate while interacting within the garden/outdoor classroom. We will connect the concepts we teach in the classroom to real world experiences while integrating literacy, writing, math, science, social studies, art, music, nutrition, and even concepts of engineering and technology (utilizing STEM concepts/units). This will be done while immersing them in the beauty of nature, creating an interactive garden and integrating the Common Core Standards. We are currently also forging partnerships with the NJ Department of Agriculture Division of Food & Nutrition, Rutgers Family & Community Health Services Grow Healthy Program, NJ Agricultural Society Learning Through Gardening Program, and the NJ Farm to School Program to deliver professional development to staff on garden education and assist in bridging the school-home-community circle. We will also be providing healthy and fresh produce and promoting wellness for children and their families.
3. LEeM: What is the impetus for the garden?
Sonya Harris: I was in a school leadership team meeting last school year, and after the meeting several of us began talking and reminiscing about using an indoor gardening curriculum in our classrooms in prior years, where students grew and harvested ingredients for a salad. We all discussed how much fun it was to integrate garden education into our curriculum and see children become so incredibly invested in the care of the plants & were excited to eat the vegetables they harvested. We were able to teach across the curriculum, and thought how nice it could be to put a small garden at our school. I contacted celebrity landscaper Ahmed Hassan (@ahmadandahmed) via social media for advice, and he has been a wonderful mentor to us in advising our team on what is needed to establish a sustainable school garden. While in Philadelphia for a professional event, two of us were able to meet him & discuss this idea further. He connected us to a local South Jersey landscaper, Mike Pasquarello of Elite Landscaping in Berlin, NJ (www.elitelandscaping.com). Mike heard our ideas and met with us to design a beautiful garden space for our students. We established a planning committee and began fundraising to create this space for our students. With the guidance of these two experts, and with the kindness and generosity of others, we will be making the Bullock Elementary Children's Garden a reality for many generations of children in the Glassboro School District. Through this garden, we are planting the seeds of knowledge. There is no limit to the harvest we will produce!