When we visited the school to meet with the Marsha Jones, the teacher who is responsible for the wool carpet reuse initiative, it was great to see first hand how our products were being recycled to benefit the flowers and plants. As you can see from previous posts on this blog, others have commented specifically about this in some detail.
What was really wonderful and more important was seeing Marsha’s eyes light up when we asked how her students responded to the whole gardening experience!
I commented that a significant number of these students would never have been exposed to gardening ever before and I asked about how their attitudes and interest changed over the course of the year?
“The students seemed to sort themselves into natural groups,” said Marsha;
The “diggers”, as she called them – they love to dig. The garden plots, ditches, holes, ponds, and channels – anything at all that needed digging.
The “cultivators” – they nurtured the seedlings and young plants until they were ready for planting.
The “planters” – they actually planted the plants and watched over them.
Marsha also commented that everything did not always go as smoothly as she would like but of course they are kids and that is very natural and in fact part of the whole learning process.
She was also extremely excited about how some children in particular flourished in the outdoor garden environment. While some of them were not necessarily the best students in terms of their book grades they were amazing in the garden and it may have helped them find a direction in their career path.
So what is more important?
Seeing kids being given this learning experience by a passionate and committed teacher!
