After each student took a turn digging dirt and making space in the planter, Serena Domingues lifted up the evergreen shrub that would go there. Using a trowel, she chipped away at the dense clump of roots at the plant’s base.
“We do this because the roots are congested,” she explained to the Early Learning Center kindergarteners surrounding her. “We want the roots to be open to breathe.”
Opening channels for the students to plant their own roots in green space is what the outdoor education program at the Early Learning Center has been all about. Though the program is wrapping up for another academic year, school and community officials have plans in place for the school’s garden, too, to continue to grow.
The students on Tuesday were treated to a year-ending party at City Hall in which they planted various shrubs and flowers in the planters that line the walkway on its northeast corner, participated in art projects, took part in drum sessions and enjoyed healthy snacks.
Through the ELC Learning Garden, the students learn not only about where food comes from and the differences between fresh and processed foods but also the responsibility of taking care of something that requires attention and maintenance.
Though the garden is a year-round fixture at the school, the Environmental Stewardship Program itself, which began last year, stretches six weeks in the spring. It’s administered by Domingues, founder of Nature’s Impact, and Carrie Decker, founder of Crazy Over Art On Tour. Every Wednesday the children join Domigues in the garden to plant, weed and learn about sustainability, and take part in nature-themed arts and crafts with Decker.
Such interconnectivity, be it between gardening and art, or within the different plants and elements of a garden ecosystem, is a key to the program, Domigues said.
“It’s not just about us. It’s about the birds, the bees, the pollinators,” she said. “I like to incorporate that into the program so they understand it’s not just about feeding us, it’s about feeding everything.”
Roughly 35 students took part in the program this year. Domingues said some of the kids have shown “pure joy picking weeds,” as the garden helps them “enjoy simple pleasures and simple acts” of maintenance and care. She acknowledged many children in the city may not have access to land to grow their own food.
“Our goal is to make sure that we’re providing these experiences so they can get their hands dirty and learn this is where your food comes from,” she said. “You can grow your own food, you don’t have to buy it at the store.”
Outside of the six-week program, teachers can bring students out to work in the garden, and teachers and facilities staff have taken the lead maintaining it. Domingues has elevated the existing space and provided a vision for what it can become. Early Learning Center Principal Nadine Dargan said the garden exposes students to healthy eating as “a way of life.” Earlier this month the students enjoyed a salad with a strawberry vinaigrette, with ingredients picked from the garden.
“The garden gives them a sense of responsibility; this is our garden, it’s at our school, we get to go out and we get to help and we get to plant and then we get to eat what comes out of our garden,” she said.
The environmental program is made possible through several funding sources, including a youth grant from the city. Domingues and Dargan plan to use some of that funding to grow the space. In the fall they plan to install a small shed, a seating space with a pergola and a pollinator garden to build on the pollinators in its existing garden. Future additions may include fruit trees.
“I’m excited,” Dargan said, noting they aim to build on more features “every year. As long as the funding is there, we’ll make it happen.”
Domingues also is looking for community members – preferably those with students in the school who can bring the kids along – who would volunteer to tend to the garden over the summer and outside of school hours in return for taking home some of the produce. Those interested can contact her at Serena@naturesimpact.org.
At City Hall, in addition to beautifying the planters, the children worked on crafts with Decker that included painting garden-themed plaster stepping stones. The children were given a choice to keep them or bring them back to the school to be installed at the garden. Mayor Yvonne Flowers joined them for some of the activities, including drumming with BabaKazi Oliver.
“We think it is so fitting for the city to collaborate with these organizations in such a hands-on way that benefits and teaches our youth,” Flowers said. “Providing space on the public grounds of City Hall is a perfect way to foster the creativity of our youth and to connect them to their government.”
Domingues hopes the children translate the lessons they learn in the garden to the community.
“Hopefully when they see a piece of trash on the ground,” she said, “they may say, ‘Oh, let me pick that up and throw it away because I want to make my city beautiful and I want to take care of the space.”
