An asphalt-covered courtyard with only a few hours of daylight seems like an unsuitable place to set up a garden.
Don't tell that to the student administrators in the special education RISE (Reaching Independence Through Structured Education) program at William James Middle School in Fort Worth.
“Very often, people actually underestimate the abilities of my students,” says special education RISE teacher April Barnett. “We teach them that they can grow their own food, and they can grow it anywhere. We don't have access to soil here. We only have asphalt. And yet, what we do… Please take a look!”
Barnett started the school's learning garden two years ago. Students will use raised beds and containers to grow vegetables in areas considered to be food deserts.
“There's a real lack of access to healthy fresh food,” Barnett said. “So, in our own small way, we are fighting food deserts, hunger and poverty in a region that faces all these challenges very strongly.”
“Yes, it is certainly Fort Worth's most beloved school garden,” said Mary Jo Green, garden educator at Texas Health Schools.
Texas Health Resources helps support 40 learning centers in North Texas. William James Middle School recently received her $5,000 grant from the Texas Department of State Health Services and her R4 Foundation to expand gardening activities.
“There are still students and adults in our world who don't know that potatoes grow underground,” Green says. “Just by working in the garden, growing a garden, growing vegetables, you're much more likely to choose fruits and vegetables for the rest of the day and the rest of the day than if you weren't.” .”
In addition to learning about proper nutrition, student administrators are learning skills they can use later in life.
“My kids need hands-on experience,” Barnett said. “When you give it that, they really thrive and grow and just bloom, just like the plants here.”