Service and Sustainability

Gardener's Supply is in business to spread the joys and rewards of gardening. One of the ways we do that is working with groups that teach young people to garden, such as the Green Education Foundation and, locally, at the Sustainability Academy, an elementary school here in Burlington, VT.

Planting a new garden at the Sustainability Academy. Photos by Andy Duback

Gardener's Supply is in business to spread the joys and rewards of gardening. One of the ways we do that is by working with groups that teach young people to garden, such as the Green Education Foundation and, locally, at the Sustainability Academy, an elementary school here in Burlington, VT.

Sue Blair, a kindergarten teacher at the Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes Elementary School, tells the story of a recent project:

Reflections on a Day of Service

On May 10, students at the Sustainability Academy, along with teachers, parents, neighbors and community members participated in our second annual Day of Service. It was powerful to see every student participating in service-learning projects: painting murals, building compost piles, cleaning up the campus, planting an ABC garden, building bat houses, painting rain barrels, replanting peace gardens and more.

For my Kindergarten class, the day of service was our culminating activity in our year-long theme and study of community helpers. It also reflected a shift in my teaching. I wanted students to own their work, and make deeper interdisciplinary curriculum connections. I wanted students to know that their ideas mattered.

By modifying Shelburne Farms’ curriculum framework, Healthy Neighborhoods/Healthy Kids, we moved our study of community from the classroom to the neighborhood. First, we drew maps of our neighborhood and identified the names of some of the streets near the school and their homes. Then, we met with community helpers who work hard to make our neighborhood a safe, happy, and healthy place for all to live. Finally, we began to think about how each child could be a community helper.

Students decided it was important for our neighborhood and schoolyard to have animals and plants, to be clean, and to have safe places for kids to play. Students were interested in assessing and improving these aspects of our neighborhood and school community. Students then went on neighborhood walks to evaluate if the neighborhood and schoolyard were clean, had animals and plants, and safe places to play. Following the walks, students brainstormed projects the class could do on the Day of Service to meet the needs that they had uncovered on their walks.

Students planned the following projects:

• Create a shade garden to provide a habitat for animals
• Build two sandboxes for kids to play in
• Organize a neighborhood clean-up.

The projects were completed on our Day of Service and the students were thrilled at the difference they made in our community. The sandboxes and gardens will make our schoolyard a better place for humans and animals, but the most important transformation is the students' emerging awareness that they can make a difference.