6 minute read
Garden of Blessing
Garden Classes Plant Seeds of Inspiration
Once a month, Christ the King students enjoy an outdoor classroom experience during garden awareness, a hands-on opportunity to learn about how to grow, tend, and harvest fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
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Originally built in 2009 to provide an element of experiential learning, CTK’s Garden of Blessing underwent a $40,000+ revitalization during the summer of 2022.
Thanks to generous support by donors to the school’s 2022 auction fund-a-need capital project, the garden revitalization team worked with a contractor to tear out and replace the deteriorating garden beds and retaining wall, build new garden beds, replace the soil, and install a teaching station with benches and a covered area for shade. It also includes an expanded greenhouse and new automatic drip irrigation system.
Ultimately, the project increased the capacity and usability of the space. Now each class can fit around the garden beds as they pull weeds, till the soil, plant seeds, and harvest the bounty.
Based on teacher feedback, the design team made sure to include plenty of shaded bench seating so the students can sit during lessons, which is more conducive to longer discussions, according to grandparent volunteer Bob Miller (Livia Cobo ‘21 and Grace Cobo ‘23).
“Through garden awareness, the students are starting to learn about the food they eat. They’re learning about the importance of microorganisms and how plants are fed by the soil. By planting, tending, and harvesting, they begin to see the value of eating fresh out of the garden. And, as a bonus, they’re being taught a work ethic —how to work efficiently and consistently until the job is done.”
— BOB MILLER
“We took the garden down to its bare bones and built it back up,” said Miller, who assumed leadership of the garden in 2011 after selling his business, becoming a master gardener, and moving to the East Bay to be closer to his family.
School Advisory Council Facilities Chair and project lead Joe McKeown (Madilynn ‘24 and Molly ‘28) sees garden awareness as a huge opportunity to expose students to California’s thriving agricultural industry, which generates more than $50 billion in annual revenue.
“California is the mecca of food production,” said McKeown. “We grow more than 50 percent of the country’s fruits, vegetables, and nuts.”
Plans for the refurbished garden included updated fencing, new garden beds, fresh soil, and a dedicated teaching space with a shaded seating area for students.
He says early exposure to garden opportunities could lead students to consider a career in any number of related fields, including ag-business, horticulture, water management, food distribution and packaging, among dozens of possibilities.
“It all starts from the garden; it all starts from a seed, water, and at the hands of a human being,” he said.
Garden awareness parent volunteer and dietician Diana Urcuyo, M.S., (Gabriel ‘26 and Lucia ‘28) says the classes encourage better nutrition in children and teach efficacy and sustainability.
“The students are building skills in team work, biological sciences, nutrition, and I think they also love the opportunity to do learning outside of the classroom and get their hands dirty,” Urcuyo said. “My own kids now have an increased desire to work on our home garden.”
That’s the goal, according to Miller.
“We asked the kids for a wish list and I tried my best to fulfill it,” he said. “It’s their garden! We’re even trying mango. It doesn’t really grow in this climate, but we shouldn’t say no to anything, so we’re trying it!”
Former CTK Principal Kathy GannonBriggs credits Miller for the garden program’s blooming.
“Bob came along at just the right time,” she said. “The kids got invested in garden awareness, and it was a great learning experience for everybody.”
“The part I loved the best was seeing the responsibility they took for the garden and their responses in watching it grow,” she said.
With the revitalization project complete and an expanded space to dig in to garden awareness lessons, CTK students will continue to get their hands dirty and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Buddies, Faith Families Bring Joy and Foster Leadership
BY MADEIRA FOUNTAINE
As a fairly new CTK parent with children in kindergarten and first grade, I often find myself wondering what my kids are doing throughout their day. Upon picking them up from school, my first question is, “What did you do at school today?” Their responses tend to vary, but the response I hear most often usually involves their buddy or faith family. The look on their faces accurately portrays how these interactions make them feel – “happy!” “fun!” “excited!” They never miss an opportunity to wave to their buddy in passing or say hello to a member of their faith family.
The CTK buddy system has been in place for more than 35 years. Every grade is paired up with another grade and meets approximately once every two weeks. Kindergartners are paired with fourth graders, first graders are paired with fifth graders, and so on. Faith families are another important aspect of partnership at CTK that began in 2011 with the goal of forming symbiotic groups that benefit both new and seasoned CTK students. Faith families are groups made up of one student from each grade. When asked who the leader of the faith family is, my kindergartner will promptly say that the 8th grader is the leader.
The families function like an actual family with the oldest member providing guidance and looking after the youngest members. The faith families meet about once per month to do activities. Recently, they got together to make cards for hurricane victims in Florida.
Overall, faith families exist to empower older students, create leadership opportunities, and provide younger CTK students with great role models. Most importantly, the faith families sit together at Mass to hear the word of the Lord.
I am thankful for these systems that are in place at CTK to foster relationship building and mentoring. The smiles on my children’s faces can attest to their effectiveness.
Kindergartners tend to meet up more with their buddies than with their faith families. The buddy system gives younger students a chance to learn from and develop relationships with older students. During their meetings, students enjoy activities such as playing games and doing arts and crafts.
As a new CTK parent, I found the buddy system to be especially helpful for my kindergartners because it allowed them to experience and learn their new environment through the eyes of another child rather than solely learning from an adult.
