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By Schools, For Schools: Sustaining School Gardens in Waterloo Region

By Andrew Jackson and Rayna Almas 

OEEC in Blair, 2022

N.A. MacEachern P.S. in Waterloo, 2022

 

As our funding stream for the garden grants was wrapping up, we knew that our next phase had to involve supporting these school communities so that they could become increasingly productive, increasingly sustainable, and, ultimately, increasingly valuable as spaces for student engagement. 

Annual inputs are commonly cited as some of the most meaningful contributions to school gardens (along with summer maintenance), and what’s more fun than offering up free seeds and seedlings?! 

Lucky for us, there were a number of high schools in Waterloo Region doing incredible work in this area already! 

 

Seedlings just prior to planting at a school in 2022

Greenhouse at Resurrection C.S.S., bursting with seedlings in 2023

 

First, we connected with Glenview Park S.S. in Cambridge, and their Green Industries teacher Eckhard Lutz. A seasoned educator and farmer, Eckhard is the epitome of leadership and mentorship for his students. We even had him on the most recent season of the Food Leader Interview Series (take a look at his interview with Akshitha!)

Then, Resurrection C.S.S. in Kitchener came on board, with a number of teachers at the school rotating the role of garden champion: Joe, Ben, and Shannan. Each eager, knowledgeable, and wildly fun to work with! 

 

Seedlings packed up into orders by students at Glenview Park S.S. in 2023, ready to distribute to schools across the Region

This year…

Our work continued to grow alongside our high school seedling partners, Glenview and Resurrection, and as we learned with and from various school communities what they need to thrive. 

 

Nurturing Youth Food Production — We also entered our second year of partnering with the folks at Nurture (through Smart Waterloo Region Innovation Lab) for youth-led gardens! Nurture’s goal is to “foster positive mental health among youth by making Waterloo Region a sustainable food forest”. They (and us) support teams of youth in tending to school gardens across the Region throughout the summer. Last year Nurture supported ~50 youth at 10 schools and this year there are ~75 youth tending to 15 school gardens. Now that’s growth!

 

As we look back at the recent inter-school resource sharing, we’re blown away by what the many hands involved were able to accomplish: 250 packets of seeds (that’s more than 12,000 seeds!) and 1500 seedlings (about 60 varieties!) made their way to 24 elementary, middle, and high schools across Waterloo Region. Wow! 

Congratulations to Glenview Park, Resurrection, and all the other players who made this happen!

 

So, why is any of this important? 

As a teacher, having the resources (time, energy, funds, encouragement) to keep a garden going is scarce. Providing annual inputs free of charge gives teachers much-needed support in bringing the space to life; a space that is used for teaching, recreation, inspiration, community building, and beyond.

The students who grow the seedlings get a chance to take on leadership roles in food production, business, logistics, and more. Students at schools who receive seeds and seedlings benefit from this garden space being available to them to learn and explore in. All in all, there are so many ways that this work is important and we hope to continue to support youth in leading efforts around the region to support their peers, deepen inter-school relationships, catalyze local urban agriculture, and strengthen their communities.

But, the year’s not over and we have big plans continuing this summer. The plants springing up across the Region are producing hundreds of pounds of fresh, organically grown fruits and vegetables. This produce is being harvested by Nurture youth teams and distributed to those in the community, including through our very own Youth Food Market. 

The YFS Youth Food Market helps to complete the cycle of youth-supporting-youth and benefits priority neighbourhoods around the Region by offering affordable, fresh produce. Any profit from the Market goes straight back into supporting our youth projects. And best of all, youth lead and learn at every stage of preparing for and running these Markets! If you’re local to Waterloo Region, we invite you to come see the project in action: 

 

 

And of course, a huge thank you to our funders and charitable partners for our youth-driven garden and market work:  Gore Mutual Waterloo Region Community Foundation* TD Friends of the Environment Foundation  Grand River Agricultural Society The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation The Peterborough K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation  The S.M. Blair Family Foundation Meridian Good Neighbour Program * Our work is supported by the Waterloo Region International Plowing Match 1995 and 2012 Fund; and  the Ontario Endowment for Children and Youth in Recreation Fund,  Lisa Schurter Memorial Fund,  Harding Family Fund, and Cotton Mendes Family Fund, all held at Waterloo Region Community Foundation.

 

As we look ahead, the sky's the limit in our minds! We will continue to support schools by expanding the number of schools participating in inter-school exchanges and resource sharing, increasing our own capacity to support each school to build sustainability, and build this model out to be replicable far and wide. 

 

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