Objectives
The
purpose of the Kids University (KU) Garden is to help children in our community
learn the aspects of good nutrition, strengthen academic skills, and to foster
teamwork as they work together developing the garden. The gardens are located in a low-income/ high
crime neighborhood. This zip code has twice the national crime rate average. It is an effort to reach out to our underprivileged
community in order to help them achieve skills necessary to attain upward
mobility. We do this by setting goals and utilizing the resources available to them
to reach those goals. We believe that our
KU Garden furthers that objective.
This
has been a start-up project. The children have come to understand that they
are building the foundation of something that would go on for many years. While the aspects of plant growth were
pivotal in curriculum planning – various other essentials were addressed: enriching
academic performance as well as developing communication and conflict resolution
skills while encouraging positive character traits.
Program Strengths
KU first
met Feb. 16, 2012 with directors,
interns and students. Each Thursday night, as their parents came to a parent
group that met on site, the children attended Kids University. We introduced the concepts of gardening and
plant life – we formulated a plan and mapped our garden plots. We
utilized math skills, science concepts, reading, charting – and built a sense
of teamwork and camaraderie with games and activities.
As summer
approached we were able to spend more of our time in the garden itself; we observed
that the hands-on experiences, using the tools provided by the Mohammad Ali
Peace Garden Grant and working in the soil caused a transformation in the children.
Meeting on Thursday nights, we noticed
that the children would often arrive restless and tired from a week of school
activities, some students were even combative.
When given the opportunity to work with their hands and play in the
large mound of garden soil purchased by two gardening grants, they began to relax and
become more sociable with the other children.
The students took pride in their hard work.
They
enjoyed planting their favorite vegetables and fruit: corn, beans, tomatoes,
broccoli, radishes, pumpkins, cauliflower, cantaloupe, peppers, squash,
carrots, cilantro and strawberries. KU Gardens has two composters (one of which
was part of this Grant). Composting teaches the students a way of
reducing environmental waste, converting it into natural soil enhancers.
The
thirty-eight children who attend include a wide range of ages from pre-K to
6th grade. Our initial plan
had been to accommodate only school-age children (K-6th grade). We soon learned that the parents needed all
of their children to be involved so that they could attend parent discussion
groups. With this need to involve the preschool children as well, we assigned
an older child to help a younger child, while still under adult supervision.
Our motto became, “Each one, teach one.”
We discovered this helped to foster leadership skills in the older
elementary children.
When school concluded for the summer, we met
through the month of June on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings for 2 ½
hours, in addition to our regular Thursday night meetings. These longer sessions
provided the time necessary to develop and improve communication skills and
strengthen character traits. Various
activities were utilized to cultivate critical thinking skills and allowed for longer periods of time gardening.
Interns
from Tulsa Community College credentialed by the Marriage and Family Institute
of Tulsa proved to be a tremendous asset to our program. The children gained much from interacting with
these young adults. The interns were
observant and helped with planning and problem-solving and facilitated the
activities. We witnessed that the
one-to-one pairing with the interns seemed to further a positive self-esteem
among the children. The children enjoyed
and flourished from the positive attention of the interns.
The
response from our interns was very positive.
Xiong, a Spring intern, said that he loved the program so much that he
planned to donate time during the summer. Jessica said that she had no idea
when she returned from college this summer that she could be a part of
something this far-reaching. She is a Child Development major at the University
of Arkansas and this program piqued her
interest. Tawania and her daughter loved
it so much they wanted to continue after her internship concluded in April. As these young adults witnessed the needs in
our low-income neighborhood they would express the desire to help in various
ways. Chuck brought new shoes for two of
the young girls whose sandals had broken during one of the gardening sessions.
One intern brought additional nutritious snacks every time. Nicco came and worked because he loved
investing in the community. In total twenty
interns assisted during the past seven months donating 258 hours of service. Total volunteer hours donated by everyone involved exceeds 600 hours!
We
found that the nutrition demonstrations were the favorite time of each session.
Mrs. Bell featured different vegetables or fruits for the children to learn
about each week. They not only became
aware of the nutrients each contained, but came to understand what these foods
would do for their bodies and the importance of eating a wide variety of them. The students assisted Mrs. Bell in the
preparation of particular fruit or vegetable which would serve as the snack for
the evening. For some children it was
the first time to taste many of these fruits and vegetables. Repeatedly, we emphasized “Mrs. Obama’s
Plate” dietary guidelines which is an easy way for elementary children to
determine food choices. Interns, as
well, enjoyed this conclusion to each session and it proved to be the time to
strengthen the bonds of friendship among the entire group.
What The Children Say . . .
The children have developed a willingness to try new fruits and vegetables when we discuss the important nutrients these foods contain and what they do for their bodies.
Sophia 7, relates to stories of the garden she has planted at home with her family and enjoys sampling a variety of fruit and vegetables.
Arrisa 9 became a regular attender during the morning session this summer and enjoyed being a leader in explaining "tool rules" to the others
Tiara, 9 took pride helping develop program from the "ground-up" and likes being affirmed for her hard work.
Trey 6, goes home each week telling his family how much we have accomplished and is very excited about "his" garden.
Roman 7 and his sister, Paislee 6, and brother Tysen 3 enjoy bringing their parents to the garden to check growth and observe what they have accomplished.
Older brothers and sisters enjoy joining the children from time to time to assist with the heavier work.
Overall the children are extremely proud of what they have built together.
Obstacles and
Challenges
While
our plans for the summer included the three scheduled mornings each week, and
our regular Thursday nights, we discovered that the children from the apartment
complex were not able to enlist the help of their parents to be able to attend
the morning sessions. In spite of the fact that brochures had been distributed
to the neighborhood school and to the neighborhood as well, morning attendance
remained low. We have learned from the school
personnel that connecting with the families and enlisting their support for
their children is very difficult.
Record
high temperatures and drought have created challenges to the gardening process.
Sub-irrigation has been used in one of the garden plots and plans are underway
to use rain barrels in the near future.
One irrigation company has been so excited by our community garden
effort that they have volunteered to irrigate the garden. Kids University Garden project was commended
by the wife of Tulsa Mayor, Mrs. Victoria Bartlett, when she visited our
gardens on March 31, 2012.
KU
gardens are located on a 28-acre wooded plot and various forms of wildlife
inhabit the area. Directors, interns and students have found it necessary to
accommodate these various animals in the garden in nonchemical, natural
methods. The students have become aware
of the need to protect and care for these animals and their habitat.
Plans for the future
Presently
the garden is being maintained weekly by the students on Thursday nights and
during the week by Dr. and Mrs. Bell.
Students have planted crops that will be harvested in the fall and are
anticipating a good yield. They are
eager for the pumpkins to produce by early October.
The
proposed format is to increase awareness of the program when Remington
Elementary School resumes in the fall semester in order to generate interest
and involvement. Plans for a Winter Hoop Garden are underway in order to get an
earlier start on next spring’s planting.
KU
Gardens has proven to be a means of broadening children’s awareness of the
natural world and connecting them to a community effort. We are so grateful to the National Gardening
Association for partnering with us to
make this dream a reality by bestowing upon Kids University the Muhammad Ali
Center Peace Garden Grant Award.
