Richard R. MacMahon, Ph.D.
At HSC we have, by design, a mixture of students that is one third each white, Hispanic and Afro-American. Many of our students are from urban environments that are impoverished at best. They have been raised in urban surroundings that are neither healthful, nurturing nor supportive. As a consequence, many of our students believe that they cannot succeed in school and in life and often act out their frustrations with a system that has failed them. One of our goals at HSC is to foster in these students a sense of accomplishment and to teach them that they can succeed and have a successful career as a student both in high school and in college. The community garden is an ideal vehicle through which to bolster student self-confidence and to instill a sense of pride in accomplishing a definite objective. We have found that as students progress with their garden plots, they become more confident, and this carries over into the academic side of the course. Most students show a real improvement in academic grades as they work hands-on in their gardens.
We also try to instill in our students a sense of cooperation. Many of our students are rather distrustful of people in general and of teachers and some classmates in particular. By working together on a community garden most students come to realize that they can cooperate with other people and that there is much to be gained through cooperation. They learn that they can accomplish much more and do tasks that they could never accomplish individually. While each student has their own garden plot, they must work together to clean up the site, rototill, fence the entire garden, plant the flower beds and bring out the hose daily.
Our method of gardening is what is generally termed “organic gardening”. This method emphasizes a natural balance in the garden between soil, plants and humans. (This is a very popular method, and there are over 33,000 references on the Internet.) The production and use of compost is taught, as well as companion planting and the use of natural pesticides. I have used rotenone and pyrethrin as my only insecticides for over thirty years. And it is amazing what insects may simply be picked off of plants and disposed of. We have two large compost bins which the students maintain and harvest from year to year. We teach students how to actually plant and maintain the garden plots. I am rather amazed that many students have never planted a seed or watched one grow. The production of a successful garden is very satisfying and a real confidence-booster for students. And it is most importantly a very successful method for making students aware of environmental quality and associated problems.