Contributed By Tim Olsen
“I love this place. I feel safe here. Can I come back next summer to be a helper?” These sweet words shared by 12-year old Carolinda summarize the impact of A Growing Place teaching garden on the lives of students attending Lowell MST Elementary School. This school serves the families living in the under-resourced neighborhood of Pettigrew Heights in Sioux Falls. SD. Pettigrew Heights is a neighborhood of about 4,000 residents representing a rich diversity of cultures and ethnic groups. It is also a neighborhood where 70% of the residents are tenants and more than 80% of the elementary school students receive reduced or free lunches.
During the spring of 2009, ten educational, nonprofit, local government, and faith-based agencies gathered to explore how a garden could be the catalyst to grow hope in a neighborhood where hope seems fleeting. Named by the students of Lowell MST Elementary School, A Growing Place teaching garden was established as an experiment to discover if a garden could become an outdoor classroom that provides a hope-filled opportunity to enhance math, science, language, creative arts and health skills.
Carolinda’s words give testimony that the experiment is working. Her soft voice was nearly overcome by the cacophony of voices of the 600 Pettigrew Heights residents attending the second annual Harvest Festival at the garden. The September event provided food, music, games, and glimpse of hope to neighborhood families. The teaching garden experiment is achieving its mission. Funding for the garden has been provided by the gifts of several community organizations such as: Kiwanis Club, United Way, and Master Gardeners.
In response to other schools asking for assistance in the form of teaching gardens, the collaboration known as the Urban Agriculture Task Force determined it was time to become a nonprofit. The nonprofit currently named Urban Agriculture Initiatives, Inc. has recently received Articles of Incorporation from the State of South Dakota. The new nonprofit will provide organizational, curriculum, and teaching assistance to schools in Sioux Falls, and area communities, to launch teaching gardens. In addition, the nonprofit will conduct research to determine if agriculture can create jobs within under-resourced neighborhoods.
