Schools Gardens: The Place to Turn Your Day Around

Raise your hand if you look back on your middle school years fondly. Not many of us. I definitely don’t. Those years are so hard. Your body is changing, people are mean for no reason & you desperately want to be seen as the adult you think you are but all the adults seem to treat you like a kid who knows nothing. Agh!

I happened into Manual’s middle school programming, due to some staff scheduling conflicts, a couple of years ago - and now you will be hard pressed to convince me to leave! I spend 2-3 days a week at Manual Middle School, an hour at a time throughout the school year. In the spring and fall we are out in the garden and during the non-growing months we are inside diving deep into nutrition and food justice.

The Manual garden is surrounded by three huge brick walls that put off an abundance of heat. That being said, I generally need to stay after class to finish watering as it takes no less than 2 hours to complete. One day, this fall, one of my past students walked up to me and was not his usual goofy self. I asked how he was doing and he responded "Ms. I've been having a really hard day. Can I water?"

And I said, “Of course! Do you want to talk about it?” as I handed him the hose. He shook his head so I went and pulled weeds as he watered. After about five or ten minutes he handed me the hose and simply said “I feel better - thank you” and then went on his way. 

It is not uncommon for students to visit or ask to water but as I drove home the power of that interaction hit me. This student, last year, needed a lot of redirection for not staying on task, distracting others or not staying where he was supposed to be. To see him, a middle school boy, identify that he was having a rough day and to then go out of his way to find something that he knew would calm him down is a skill that not many adults have, let alone a preteen. I still don’t know what was happening with him that day but regardless he was able to identify that quiet time in the garden was what he needed to regulate and allow for a change in the rest of his day.

I wonder, if you had access to a garden, when you were in middle school, if your experience might have been a little different.

Manual Middle School has not always had an active garden nor a culture that promotes the importance of gardening. SustainEd Farms has had an active presence with their enrichment programming for three years and in that time the interest in our class has drastically changed. In the beginning there were 5 students in the class but now our roster maxes out at 30 and there are students eagerly awaiting their chance to join. As someone who spends much of my time with our students - I can confirm that your generosity is making a lasting impact!

During this season of giving we would appreciate your support. Each dollar provides pivotal garden programming and maintenance throughout Denver Public Schools.