At the end of August we joined Friendship Academy for their back-to-school open house. The excitement in the air was palpable on campus after a year of virtual schooling. After a mentally and emotionally exhausting year, things are looking up and we are excited for what is to come.
To kick-off the school year, we joined the kiddos at Friendship Academy expand their green campus by building a compost bin and an additional grow bed for their garden. We had more than 20 students ranging from pre-K to 8th grade assisting us throughout the day, along with Spark-Y staff, interns, and volunteers from Accenture. Even Mother Nature lended a hand -- what was supposed to be a stormy day, held out until the very end. Nothing was going to get in the way of some good ol’ hands-on sustainability education!
The site included three work stations throughout the day: measure, cut, and assembly. Volunteers from Accenture helped facilitate these stations and youth popped in-and-out, able to engage in what interested them, while their parents spoke to teachers.
A 5th grader named S'Sence (pronounced Essence) proclaimed: "I like drills now," after working with our assembly team to drill holes in the compost bin. Participants in our build days often share that their favorite part of Spark-Y build days is exposing students to materials and experiences that aren’t typically used in classrooms, to help broaden their learning.
Our Right Track+ interns were also there to help facilitate the build with one of our interns, Jordan, helping the younger students to identify veggies in the garden and dissect them. The tomatoes and watermelon were definitely crowd pleasers.
One student at the academy ended up sneaking away from her mom during the open house because she wanted to help us out with the build. Her mom found her safe and sound working on measuring boards as we were welcoming our second round of volunteers. We don’t blame her - building a garden and compost bin at your school is pretty darn cool!
We are so glad to have been able to start off the school year with this build at Friendship Academy. Our sustainability educator Sarah shares: “It was neat to see the students being so courageous with the build and being willing to try new things.” It serves as a reminder of the importance of hands-on and sustainability education for youth, especially after a year of many ups and downs. Students are resilient and we know they have a great year ahead of them.
Our partnership with Accenture helped to make this day possible. Their sponsorship of the event and volunteer assistance was invaluable. It was one of our first times having volunteers leading stations and it worked so well that we intend to replicate it for future projects.
Special thanks to Accenture, Friendship Academy, Spark-Y and Right Track+ interns, as well as our dedicated staff. What a joy to watch this garden grow knowing young people will have access to fresh produce and composting right on campus for years to come.
