by Loretta Hauslauer, Nature-based Learning Educator and Growing Good Coordinator
“Good morning sun, thank you for helping our garden grow!” the small, proud voice of a Kindergartner shouts with arms and face raised to the shining sphere. Immediately, a chorus of voices, arms and faces also raise and repeat the solar greeting, in a shared moment of peace, presence and appreciation.
Each day of Growing Good – our Summer Enrichment Program at Foodlink Community Farm for students Kindergarten to 5th grade – began like this. Every morning, students and staff gathered for a community circle in the essential shade of black walnut trees. Our shoes damp with dewy grass and ears buzzing with the swelling sound of cicadas, we gathered to connect, to greet one another, and to ground ourselves in gratitude.
At first, it was primarily me who guided this gathering. I would stretch to thank the sun for shining or bend to thank the grass for growing, and the words and movements alike would be repeated back in unison. Then one morning, as we trekked to the black walnut trees, Idriss, a 4th grade student and returnee from last year, asked if he could lead the day’s greeting.
It was a joy to be swept up in his enthusiasm as at full volume he began thanking the sunflowers for standing tall, the birds for singing, and the peppers for growing big so we could eat them (Idriss eats a whole bell pepper for lunch most days). He ended with “Thank you everyone for being here.”
Idriss’s leadership empowered others. As our morning greeting became an invitation for anyone to lead us in gratitude, I began to notice something really powerful happening. These children weren’t saying thanks just because it was our daily routine. They truly felt connected to this space and each element of it.
“Thank you trees for giving us air to breathe!” “Thank you bees for pollinating plants!”
This wasn’t appreciation for what we might assume most elementary age students would be grateful for. No one said thanks to Youtube, or candy, or video games. It was about the abundance that surrounded them, taught them, helped and fed them everyday.
“Thank you worms for helping the soil!”
“Thanks stinky compost for helping the plants grow!”
Students who rarely spoke up now raised their hands to share. Nothing on the farm was off limits. We thanked bugs, seeds, roots & leaves. One day we even thanked the garden fence.
It was pure and it was genuine and it continued to grow.
The Growing Good Program uses nature-based learning to provide students with a fun, positive, and meaningful summer learning experience. In this program we aim to help students maintain math, literacy and social skills while developing an understanding of healthy food, farming, and Rochester’s food systems. Foodlink’s urban farm on Lexington Avenue provided a perfect place for students to engage in hands-on activities, experiments, and exploration. In addition to exploring the community farm daily, and working with community partners, students also went on field studies every week, including visits to other farms, local parks, kayaking in the Genesee River and shopping at the Public Market. Even on these outings, the appreciation came with us too.
On Durand Eastman beach, a 3rd grader screamed at Lake Ontario, “Thank you for my rocks!”
Eating a picnic lunch at the Maplewood Nature Center, a 5th grader looked up at the towering oak tree branches to say “Thanks for the shade, guys.”
I heard a 2nd grader whisper, “Thank you sun for shining” as its warmth emerged from behind the clouds on a particularly wet, gray day.
Noticing what the natural world was doing around us, feeling connected to it, and taking the time to express our appreciation had almost become an involuntary practice in this community. Even more so, I noticed it developing into a sort of gratitude loop that was taking all the thanks we kept sending out, and bringing it right back to us.
With the ability to recognize all the good around them, students experienced more joy, more connection, and more motivation for learning. They left excited about blueberries and black soldier flies. At pick-up they begged to show their families where the rhubarb and mint grew. They went home telling their parents about new friendships and newly discovered interests. And everyday families were expressing gratitude for the growth they were noticing in their children.
“Thank you for getting my child excited about trying new foods.”
“Thanks to this program, we started our first garden at home.”
“Thank you all for allowing my child to stay off screens and just be a kid.”
Rochester Ecology Partners has always made joy a focus of our work. And expressing gratitude is certainly core to how we practice nature-based learning. However, this summer program showed me why this works so well.
Gratitude fuels Joy and Joy fuels Gratitude. When gratitude is embedded into a community’s culture and when children and their joyful experiences are at the center of it, then there’s really no limit to how much good we can grow together.
Rochester Ecology Partners is so appreciative of everyone who made the Growing Good Summer Enrichment Program a success. We are grateful for every family, funder, volunteer, educator, community partner, park, and plant that made this program possible