The gardens at Summit Academy – Middletown are brimming with watermelons, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes and, above all, hope. The gardens provide a place for students to plant seeds, not just for crops, but for their futures.
The students planted seeds for their recent harvest last winter, as a component of their social-emotional learning, explains Principal Kristen McClanahan-Parkes.
“Students were able to choose what they wanted to plant, and each grade level has their own bed. The students even built the beds,” she says.
The students got creative with some of the harvest and turned it into salsa, which they took home along with some of the watermelons. The greatest portion of their harvest, however, went to helping families in need. The students donated more than 70 pounds of the produce to Isaiah 55, which provides nutritious foods to underserved citizens, and to the 5Loaves 2Fish Food Mobile Pantry.
The gardening program is led by Jordan Payne, BA, TRCC, Executive Director of Sprouting
Minds. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Sprouting Minds provides therapeutic horticulture programs that promote mental health and resilience, in southeastern Ohio and Indiana.
“The ACE [CDC-Kaiser Permanente adverse childhood experiences (ACE)] study taught us that childhood trauma is a real and widespread issue facing our youth. Trauma tragically robs individuals of their sense of control,” explains Payne. “Sprouting Minds strategically empowers participants, giving them a voice in programming, choice in its implementation and control in the fruits of harvest.”
Students who participate in the therapeutic gardening program at Summit Academy – Middletown schools build resilience and develop confidence to carry into their futures, according to Payne. “When potentially traumatic situations arise, our participants have learned they truly can have an impact on their surroundings, and their voice is important,” he says.
To donate to the garden project visit, https://summitacademies.org/donate/ and click Middletown Garden under Fund*.