Learning Garden Interns Talk About Their Summer

Learning Gardens is a program of CityParks Education, serving over 2,850 community members, children, and teachers through school, out-of-school and summer programs. The environmental education idea is simple: build a communal garden, combine it with a series of wonderful lessons, and then invite community members to work on their gardens and cultivate valuable benefits. Below are some essays from this year’s Learning Garden interns.

This summer I worked with City Parks Foundation’s Learning Gardens. There were some hard times, but I really enjoyed this job because I got to meet new people. I taught kids and adults of all ages. I really noticed that the kids were into it and that they really were learning in a fun way. When it was my time to teach what I had learned, I was nervous, anxious and even a little scared. After a little the words just came up naturally and I felt confident. The second time I taught, I just let the words flow and I felt confident and I think did a good job. Later that day I led half of a group and my sister Carmen led the other half. At the end of the day, we brought our groups together and we all planted in the garden. I really can say that day was a long, interesting and wonderful.

In my opinion, the Learning Gardens are a wonderful way of being in touch with nature and of learning about it. The people there are open to people of all ages. I hope that in the future more people would go and help us create even better and more beautiful gardens. This is the only place we have to live in so we need to do everything possible to keep it safe and healthy for us to live in. The garden is a wonderful place to be, you are in an outdoor environment planting and learning in a good safe way. It reminds me a lot of when I lived in Puerto Rico because I helped my mom in our garden. I would like to thank everybody from City Parks Foundation for having this great program and for teaching me more than I already know.

— By Brandon Ortiz.

Working in the Learning Gardens has given me good ideas and made me come out and express my feelings towards life and plants. I have done a lot of exercise while working in the garden. When I first started working, I thought it would be difficult, but after I got use to it, it was a very fun job. You learn something new every day during the garden, even the smallest detail about a bug or how a plant can multiply and make more of itself. Working with kids was very interesting. Especially the different age groups really showed me who I worked better with. In my opinion, working with younger kids is better because they are flexible when it comes to work. They love to plant and play with the worms and chase butterflies around. Some of the older kids around the ages 12-14 think they are too cool for planting. Soon, I found out they loved to plant. Even though when the days were hot, they hung in and had fun. After their experience during the Learning Gardens, they will carry it along and show their kids when they get older.

– By Shakir Saul

The Learning Gardens is a great experience for children and adults of all ages. The children really enjoyed being outdoors and learning in different ways. In our program we teach the children by interacting with them and letting them interact with nature itself. In my personal experience I have seen how much the kids like to learn by simple movements, playing, and singing. I personally think we really reached the children because of our hands-on activities. Kids love to learn while they play with us, and we love it too. We had so much fun with the kids at the garden. We teach the kids, play with them while they learn and even act silly with them. Sometimes the children really enjoy this and that’s why I go out there every day even in a heat wave or rain. We try our best and it’s always satisfying to see a smile on a child’s face. It feels like it’s all worth the while.

– By Carmen Ortiz