A Garden School Grows in Africa

Our story begins with David Gido, Headmaster of the Making a Difference Foundation Tanzania (MDFT) Garden School, a small primary school in Arusha, Tanzania, the gateway to the best Safaris in Africa.

As a teacher, David wanted to do something about the growing number of HIV/AIDS orphans that were not attending primary school. He started tutoring about 10 children after school and the numbers soon grew. He then enlisted the help of a few of his school colleagues and paid them from his own meager salary. Soon, kids as young as 3 years old were walking very long distances to attend David’s school, which by now became the only viable education option for many of these families whose parents make on average about $2-$3 a day. Although there is currently a government initiative for change, most Tanzanian public schools are not free and parents must pay fees along with buying uniforms and supplies.

David grew up as an orphan himself. He was born in Rwanda, where his father was killed in the Hutu/Tutsi conflicts.  His mother returned to her native Tanzania, and as is common, David was not well accepted by his new stepfather’s family. As a result, he has a soft heart for indigent children who face a life of extreme poverty and difficulty because of circumstances outside their immediate control.

David felt such empathy that with his own money he rented a building and started a school. His objective was both simple and lofty – to create an education model that can make a profound and lasting difference in the students’ lives in order to transform their future. It is his wish to educate Tanzanian’s next scientists, business entrepreneurs, social developers and decision makers.

Around this time a kinship began on Facebook between David and Matinga Ragatz, an innovative and dynamic high school teacher in Michigan. Among her many accomplishments, Matinga was named Michigan Teacher of the Year for 2010/11 and in 2011 became a NASA certified Educator.

Matinga immediately felt a kinship with David as a teacher that aims out of the box.

“We began to dream together,” she said. “David wants to provide an education that truly makes a real impact in these young kid’s lives. We are collaborating on this prototype hoping to collect data and demonstrate an effective education model that can help transform the skills needed to provide a better quality of life for our students as well as for their community.”

One of their benefactors is Todd “TJ” Duckett. He is a former NFL running back and now a philanthropist and founder of New World Flood, an organization focused on encouraging young people to take up the slack during the economic down turn through volunteering and service to their communities. TJ visited the MDFT primary school in the summer of 2011 and is the inspiration behind the naming of the school farm, the Flood Garden.

On the MDFT blog, David explains it this way, “We decided to call our little farm the Flood Garden because we intend to flood our community with children who are skilled and able to take up the current economic slack and help fix the immediate issues in their own communities. We also want to FLOOD the community with innovative ways to improve their diet, income and budgets from the ideas of our little urban farm.”

From the start, the school farm was imagined as an integral part of the school.

“The school farm would help us diversify our income, start a parent cooperative where they could exchange sweat equity for school fees, create outdoor classrooms to lessen overcrowding within the traditional 4 walls, replace the immediate need for traditional books, labs and other conventional resources (the farm is the best textbook!!), introduce a better diet for our school meals program, create Kitchen Garden models to spread to our community the idea of growing one’s own food in a crowded, low income urban setting, and among many, many other things, create a place were our teachers could learn and innovate their lessons and skills every day!”

The MDFT teachers, although young, are very enthusiastic about participating in the Flood Garden learning model. The idea of making a Maasai style house as an outdoor kitchen came from them.  They are interested in teaching history to the students by showing them traditional Maasai building techniques. Currently the teachers make less than $1,000 a year, which is not enough to provide them with a living wage, so the teachers sleep in the school at night.

Along with this dedicated teaching staff, David has been able to gather support from parents, students and community members. Because they are low on funds they are able to find resources in the form of knowledge, materials, and care. One of the first people they met was Cecilia, a local community member with a degree in Agriculture who is turning her property into a nursery for exotic plants and ponds. Cecilia has been incredibly supportive and generous with her time consulting with the school staff on horticultural matters.

The MDFT Garden School is like a small seedling. There is still much room for growth.

Phase 1 is the current Primary School Garden (ages 2-7) with an emphasis on curriculum and self-sufficiency.

Phase 2 will be to expand the school physically to allow students to continue their education throughout their school careers (ages 8+).

As Matinga explains, “We want to study the impact of our education model on the future economic opportunities of our students but we cannot do that if our students leave our system at age 8.”

To this end David and Matinga are hoping to purchase 10+ acres of land that would allow them to:
a) build additional space for the school
b) expand farming efforts to provide a better meal plan for the students
c) expand the farm (both crops and fish ponds) to create a surplus they could sell
d) build dormitories and provide a better environment for the homeless children
e) expand the farm to create a Farm Cooperative for widowed mothers
f) expand their project-based education model to provide an innovative Career/Technology Education program for middle and high school students.

Unfortunately, there are currently no funds available for these programs. In the near future we hope to initiate a Kickstarter.com program as well as other fundraising efforts to raise money and awareness.

I’ll keep you posted.

Left to right (a friend of the teachers), David Gido (in blue plad), Teacher Loveless (pink vest), Head Teacher Jackie (in Red), MDFT Parent helper (in back), Teacher Nixon (in black jacket), Vanessa (5 year old MDFT student) on the day we broke ground

Unromantic Truth: Gardens are hard work

By Tricia Elisara, KidsInGardens.com

Often, the clear-eyed observation that “gardens are hard work” is an argument given for NOT starting a garden.  I believe, however, that this truth is one of the most compelling reasons to (ahem) dig in if you hope to teach character education.

In the spring of 2010, Julian Elementary won a National Schools of Character award from the Character Education Partnership.  As such, a team of staff, teachers, and one parent (moi) attended their national conference last year to accept the award.  Funding had been made available to produce a 10-minute film highlighting how character education is taught at the winning schools.  We hired First and Main Media, and they produced a gem of a video, which is now featured on the CEP’s website.

After attending the conference last year, I noticed that the idea of school gardens as vehicles for character education was absent from the three-day series of workshops.  As such, I returned to the conference this year with colleagues to lead a session entitled “Gardens that Grow Character.”

The intersection of gardens and character education is a theme I plan to explore periodically on this blog, and I thought I’d lay down some history, starting with this film. If you’re in a hurry, the garden makes an appearance at minute 6:20.

A Child’s Garden of Standards: Linking School Gardens to California Education Standards

The California Department of Education has a free publication for downloading regarding school gardens and curriculum. A Child’s Garden of Standards: Linking School Gardens to California Education Standards links garden-based education activities selected from several published educational materials to specific academic content standards for grades two through six in science, history/social sciences, mathematics, and English language arts.

Free download version available here (PDF; 5.22MB; 112pp.)

Flowers for a School Garden

Snapdragons

There is no rule that says school gardens should only be about edible plants. Adding flowers to row ends or borders, containers and window-boxes is a great way to add color and beauty to any outdoor classroom. Since we are planting in the fall and want flowers fairly quickly we are limited to what varieties we can grow.

Nasturtium

The following is a list of easy to grow annuals that all can be planted now and will flower within the school year:

Bachelor Buttons, Calendula, Nasturtiums, Pansies, Phlox, Poppies, Snap Dragons, Stocks, & Violas

Stocks

School Gardening Program Specialist – LAUSD job announcement

Los Angeles Unified School District would like to announce the recruitment for School Gardening Program Specialist.

The ideal candidate will have experience in developing and implementing K-12 school educational garden projects which include community, edible, instructional, literacy, or multi-functional gardens. The ideal candidate will also demonstrate the ability to build strong, collaborative partnerships with various community stakeholders and other entities in order to raise awareness, garner cooperation, and raise funds for school garden spaces for the District. Extensive knowledge of innovative sustainable garden practices is highly desirable.

Minimum requirements include four years of experience assisting in the coordination of activities for school or community gardening programs with multiple sites, or experience planning, funding and implementing sustainable schoolyard projects and initiatives; and a bachelor’s degree.

Please visit www.lausdjobs.org for more information.

Application deadline is October 12, 2011.

Feel free to contact Katie.wong@lausd.net if you have any questions regarding this information.

Katie Wong, Human Resources Specialist
Personnel Commission-Talent Acquisition & Selection
Los Angeles Unified School District
Tel: 213-241-5549 Fax: 213-241-8038
Katie.wong@lausd.net

School Garden Volunteers

Let’s face it, every school needs volunteers, the more the better. For school garden help, first place I would look is your own student body. Getting just one student to commit to irrigation or weeding on some type of schedule is huge. Second place I would look is the parent organization. Send an email to your base and tell them your needs.  You will not get any help unless you ask for it. Third place is your community. Use your neighborhood councils to gain access to your local homeowner associations. Send them an announcement as well. Last and best place is your local Master Gardener office. They supply the technical expertise you require to succeed.

In Los Angeles, you would fill out the form below and send it to Yvonne Savio, head of the UC Cooperative Extension’s Common Ground Garden Program. Her email is ydsavio@ucdavis.edu

REQUEST FOR MASTER GARDENER TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Please fill out the form below and email back to me. I’ll forward to the Master Gardener volunteers, and anyone who’s interested will contact you directly. Be sure to include a lot of detail in the “Help Requested” section so MGs can determine whether their skills match your needs! And, be aware that Master Gardeners advise and instruct but don’t do labor. Also, most MGs already have their own volunteer projects, so may not be available.

Day and Date — for example, Saturday, June 14, 2010
Time — for example, 10am-12noon
Activity Name — for example, Baldwin Hills Garden Club meeting
Sponsoring Group — for example, Baldwin Hills Garden Club
Location Address — for example, Baldwin Hills Branch Library, 2906 S. La Brea Avenue, LA 90016
Help Requested (provide lots of detail) — for example, Seasonal Vegetable Gardening Presentation
Anticipated Attendance (so we bring enough handouts) – for example, 50 adults
Contact — for example, Yvonne Savio
Contact Phone and Email — for example, 323-260-3407, ydsavio@…

School Garden Grants Resource List

Are you interested in building a school garden and could use a little financial help? Or maybe you already have a school garden and wish to expand. The following is a list of grants available specifically for school gardens or sites that list school garden grants on a continuing basis. See previous post about Tips to Get a School Garden grant.

1) GardenABCs.com – School and Community Garden Grants

2) KidsGardening.org List of Grants and Fundraising

3) National Gardening Association – Youth Garden Grants Program sponsored by Home Depot

4) San Diego County Master Gardener Association – Calendar of Grants Available to School Gardens

5) Annies.com Grants for Gardens

6) California Fertilizer Foundation – California School Garden Grants

7) CommunityGarden.org – Grant Sources and Fundraising

8) Green Education Foundation – Youth Gardening Grants

9) Western Growers – School Garden Grants

10) Wild Ones – Seeds for Education: Grants for School Gardens and Community Nature Areas