"This was the dream and a few short weeks later, the transformation of the garden begins. Stay tuned - there will be more details and ways for you to be involved."
While growing a garden is not innovative, the concept of working, tilling, nurturing, and cultivating might be a very new and different skill for young students. Students caring for something outside of themselves and watching it grow successfully may foster self-confidence, develop compassion, and encourage healthier food choices. Working collaboratively with each other, their school and their Salado community may provide students with a sense of connection and appreciation for their community. By walking through hands-on gardening that is connected to the grade-level content,, students gain problem-solving skills, enabling them to champion solutions to 21st century environmental and nutritional problems.
What does it mean to cultivate something?
1 : to prepare land for the raising of crops.
2 : to raise or assist the growth of crops by tilling or by labor and care.
3 : to improve or develop by careful attention, training, or study : devote time and thought to developing a new quality, sentiment or skill….
Just two weeks ago, I took my virtual-weary students out to the field area for a bit of fresh air. Magic happened.
Without a word those children took to running the trail as fast as they could. They sat in the grass. They talked quietly under the shade of the beautiful live oak tree…but mostly they ran—like butterflies coming out of a cocoon.
I kept counting heads because that is just the way I am. . .but near the end of our time, I made myself relax and walk into the center of the field to enjoy the day with them. This is when I saw the limestone rocks in the shape of Texas and the happy bluebonnets blooming in this space.
I have been teaching here three years. How did I not know this was here? Maybe I did, but this day was different. We are nearing the end of a weary year of masks and distance. We have had to reach and teach through computer screens for some and through masks for the rest. We have had to dig deep for courage while maintaining a happy spirit for these children that have been watching us all worry and wonder about our country, our world…but on this day, we were refreshed and encouraged by something someone did in this field years before we were even here. Even though the beds are untended and worn out, the happy Texas bluebonnets are growing anyway—a symbol of the rugged resilience that calls us to keep hoping, keep believing and keep nurturing, especially in the hearts of our children, a love for this place—this Texas dirt we run on, we depend on, and we call home.
Melanie Lane, Thomas Arnold Elementary School, Third Grade Teacher, Salado Texas, 2021
What does it mean to cultivate something?
1 : to prepare land for the raising of crops.
2 : to raise or assist the growth of crops by tilling or by labor and care.
3 : to improve or develop by careful attention, training, or study : devote time and thought to developing a new quality, sentiment or skill….
Just two weeks ago, I took my virtual-weary students out to the field area for a bit of fresh air. Magic happened.
Without a word those children took to running the trail as fast as they could. They sat in the grass. They talked quietly under the shade of the beautiful live oak tree…but mostly they ran—like butterflies coming out of a cocoon.
I kept counting heads because that is just the way I am. . .but near the end of our time, I made myself relax and walk into the center of the field to enjoy the day with them. This is when I saw the limestone rocks in the shape of Texas and the happy bluebonnets blooming in this space.
I have been teaching here three years. How did I not know this was here? Maybe I did, but this day was different. We are nearing the end of a weary year of masks and distance. We have had to reach and teach through computer screens for some and through masks for the rest. We have had to dig deep for courage while maintaining a happy spirit for these children that have been watching us all worry and wonder about our country, our world…but on this day, we were refreshed and encouraged by something someone did in this field years before we were even here. Even though the beds are untended and worn out, the happy Texas bluebonnets are growing anyway—a symbol of the rugged resilience that calls us to keep hoping, keep believing and keep nurturing, especially in the hearts of our children, a love for this place—this Texas dirt we run on, we depend on, and we call home.
Melanie Lane, Thomas Arnold Elementary School, Third Grade Teacher, Salado Texas, 2021