ENCOURAGING COMMUNITY
Growing Gardens, Hearts, and by Kathy Rukes ’99
Enter any elementary school cafeteria and you are bound to see much of the same picture: Students lined up waiting to fill their tray chatting with the servers who over the years have learned not only their name but whether they do or do not like peas. You might observe friends laughing with one another as they plan what they will do at recess or spy kids leaning over their shoulder to chat to the classmate at the table behind them.
In these ways Wichita Collegiate’s lunchroom is like many. But it might begin to look a bit different as our students clear their trays and start to meticulously pick out the items that belong in the compost bucket. You might then spot the rotating green team named the Global Guardians collecting the bucket and adding the discarded food to the compost pile built by our students. How did these nineyear-olds learn so much about composting? In science, of course. Lower School Science teacher Mrs. Jena Simms started the year determined to teach our students
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about food scarcity in an impactful way: “The goal this year was to tie together a series of projects centered in science so that the Lower School students could understand beginning to end how to help fill a gap in our community, and in doing so, help those that are food insecure in small but meaningful ways.” The result has been that students in grades 1-4 learn all about food – where food comes from, the waste food can create, how to grow food, and the communities that grapple with food scarcity – all while engaging with their own food supply through hands-on design projects.
PHASE I: LEARNING ABOUT COMMUNITY Throughout campus, Wichita Collegiate School is fortunate to host several Aeroponics Tower Gardens, vertical gardens that are growing kale, basil, arugula, and so many other leafy greens. Though we have had these towers on our campus for a few years, each year our teachers have determined new ways for our students to better engage with them. This year the towers became a tool for Mrs. Simms to teach students about food scarcity.
With the mission of our Institute for Community Impact in mind – to inspire every student to be the best version of themselves and empower them to lead lives of impact in their community and their world – Mrs. Simms didn’t just want to grow food; she wanted to teach our students where that food could go once harvested. Students learned about communities within the Wichita area that were food insecure and discussed what that might indicate globally. Conversations on what role they could play in helping these communities took place. The result? A year-long commitment by Lower School students to planting, nurturing, harvesting, and delivering nutrient-dense food from the Aeroponics Tower Gardens to food-insecure community members served by organizations like the Union Rescue Mission.
PHASE II: CONNECTING TO SCIENCE Being a science teacher, Mrs. Simms knew there was even more to discover on the topic of food and the role it plays in our lives. And when learning about food in school, where is the most logical place to begin? The lunchroom, of
