A Seedling

School garden educator Shannon Stewart thinks of herself as an emerging seedling amongst old growth forests.

Stewart, who teaches in San Diego, California, says that this is her second career—and as a “seedling” in the the field of school gardens, she often turns to others for inspiration and ideas.

It Started with a School Garden

She explains that her involvement in school gardens started when the principal at her son’s school approached her about helping to start a school garden.

That project opened the door to a big life change: She took the leap from working as an exotic animal trainer to becoming a school garden educator.

Stewart says that while it’s a big change, both roles involve understanding and caring for living things.

Life Skills

The garden classroom presents an opportunity to teach more than just how to grow plants. Stewart uses it to teach:

health and nutrition
science
critical thinking
teamwork
and even public speaking

“That is the most powerful part of garden education, is giving kids that authoritative power to make decisions on their own.”

Cards for Pollination Play

Keep it Moving

Stewart talks about engaging students with a pollination-sequence play, enacted to the music Flight of the Bumblebee.

“I’m all about getting the kids moving outside because they do not need to sit there and listen to me talk for 30 minutes.”

Using Stories of Animals While Teaching in the Garden

Stewart says that students love it when she includes animal stories in the lessons.

For example, when teaching about Japanese beetles (and the Japanese beetle grubs that eat plant roots) she shares the story of how a dolphin she was training was fascinated by the colourful beetles that she showed it—and how the curious dolphin then ate a beetle!