Who’s Minding the Store? The Ladies of Nolan Elementary-Middle School (Part 3)

November 8, 2013 · Filed under Contributors File · Tagged Angela Underwood, BE Culturally Exposed, Bonnie Odom-Brown, Carrie Hahn, Community gardening, DeAndrea Rogers, Detroit, Education Achievement Authority, Garden, Gardening, Gardens, Maura Ryan-Kaiser, Michigan, Nolan Elementary-Middle School, Nolan's Fierce Gardeners, Planting The Seeds, Project Sweet Tomato, Snelling Staffing Services, Urban Gardening

There is one more person that has proven to be as important to the garden and the program as Ms. Underwood and Ms. Rogers, and that person is Carrie Hahn.  Ms. Hahn is an art teacher and she was the winning volunteer to supervise the garden club.  Teaching, itself, is hard enough without taking on the task of managing a disparate group of kids that range from six to nine years of age. But there she was, two days a week, marching the kids in double rows to and from the garden.  A professed, non-gardener, she learned as her students learned and shared many “firsts” with them.  What you need to see is the “current” that flows through this teacher and her students.  Without her, we would not have been able to “teach” the students.  Our methodology rose to a higher level because she showed us how best to communicate with the kids.  I mean, we ARE talking about third graders!  I think that these “open minds”… “little sponges” …soaked up and learned more about gardening that our previous groups.  I look forward to sharing with you the stories of their development as gardeners.

“From a teacher’s lens I experienced many of my students come to life on Tuesdays and Thursdays because it was GARDEN CLUB DAY! You could say that the student’s minds GREW right along with the CROPS!”

–Carrie Hahn, Teacher–

I am impressed by the connectivity of the three ladies I am talking about.  Always striving to be on the same page, working together through conflicts with a mutual purpose to do what it takes to keep the club going.  And if anything good could be said about living by proxy, I believe the following words from Ms. Hahn would be felt by all of them if they could have been out there.

“Some of my favorite memories include the following:

·        I loved seeing how excited each student was while being involved in everyday gardening processes like planting seeds, weeding, and harvesting crops.

·        I was also touched by the looks on each child’s face when they knew they could take home the crops to share with their families and the way each child would parade around the school as if they had just won the jack pot. They worked so hard and seeing their pride was amazing!

·        I’ll never forget their faces when they tried green beans fresh from the gardens… some students loving it, while others nervously anticipated their first bite.

·        Our cook out party was a great event and gave us all an opportunity to enjoy fellowship and get to know each other’s families a little bit better.

Each memory is rich in my mind and they are ones I will always treasure. There are so many things to learn that happen outside the classroom walls and the students involved in Garden Club were fortunate to be a part of that.

I look forward to this season and many more memories to come.”

–Carrie Hahn, Teacher–

Pretty good, eh?  There were a lot of moments like she described that we, Bonnie Odom, our corporate sponsor and I, were able to enjoy.  We are already working on our fall projects and though the students aren’t outside with us, we will be bringing the outdoors indoors real soon.  The program and partnership is stable and in the good hands of Angela Underwood, DeAndrea Rogers and Carrie Hahn…our ladies of Nolan Elementary-Middle School!

“As we enter the 2013-14 school year, Nolan’s Garden Club continues to be a vital member of the school community.”

–Principal Angela Underwood–

This content is brought to you by…

Sandra Tomlin

 

Maura Ryan-Kaiser

 

Arthur Littsey

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