Have Your Kale and Eat It, Too!
At Thrive Academy, students connect and grow with the garden
Natural outdoor spaces have supernatural powers. Just ask Stephanie Elwood, a horticulturist wrapping up her Masters in Urban Forestry this spring at Southern University. Since 2008, Elwood has been dedicated to community and school gardens across Louisiana, witnessing the healing power of hands in the soil. Working at Southern University with a USDA Fast Track grant, she started a garden at Thrive Academy, the Baton Rouge boarding school for at-risk youth. “I can help a child obtain mental stability in the garden,” pledges Elwood to prospective students and parents. “My graduate research is on gardening and behavior change,” she added in a recent interview. “I have worked with thousands of kids, and once they touch the soil, they are invested.”
Thrive Academy, the Louisiana State Charter School on Brightside Drive, offers a unique educational model to students who have obstacles in their lives that a boarding school can help them overcome.
In addition to small class size and mentor-led dormitory living on weekdays, the students blossom with after school club activities. (I teach weekly cooking classes to both the high-schoolers and middle-schoolers.) From the music room, percussion pulses into the air. If it’s a hip-hop beat, all the better for Elwood, who connects hip-hop with the garden. “There are songs that transition from ‘rap’ into a positive message about food and healthy eating. It’s relatable for the kids. Growing food is empowering,” she said, adding, “If a kid grows kale, they will eat it.”
“This is my first year working in the garden,” said tenth-grader Renauta. “I planted the cabbage and carrots. I love to see everything growing after all the work we put into it, and then we get to eat it!”
The garden club allows a therapeutic outdoor outlet for students with the added bonus of the garden beds beautifying the entrance of the school and the bounty begging “Pick me!” Carrot greens peek up from the soil and celery stalks with vivid green leaves wave in the breeze. Even students who aren’t involved in the garden club learn to identify what’s what. A cascade of lemongrass invites passersby to pick a long leaf and enjoy a little aromatherapy.
"The garden club allows a therapeutic outdoor outlet for students with the added bonus of the garden beds beautifying the entrance of the school and the bounty begging 'Pick Me!'"
Elwood mentally inventories the abundance of the Thrive garden beds: “There’s dinosaur kale, Red Russian kale, and ornamental kale that adds beautiful color to the beds and makes a pretty garnish. I like to grow things they can pick and eat raw, straight from the garden. It will be fun to partner with the cooking club so we can cook up some of our harvest,” she said. The current crop of broccoli and purple cauliflower will make its way to the kitchen where cooks and gardeners will collaborate on a “Mardi Gras Mac and Cheese,” festive with the green and purple vegetables dancing in a golden cheese sauce. [Get the recipe, here!]
Elwood’s devotion to gardening with kids is infectious. “I started the garden at Thrive in their previous location [at the Family Youth Services Center on Government Street] and a seed was planted in each student. A sixth grader from back then is a junior now and continues with the program. Watching them discover the beauty of the garden, it is magic. It’s why I’m here on this earth.” Teachers at Thrive tell Elwood how they value the garden as a calming space for students. “I’ve heard about students getting sent out to the garden to work out their emotions. It’s really beautiful.”
[Read this: Local growers find success with specialty cut flowers.]
“One of my Thrive students lives with his grandparents. They had a communication gap, as in he would not communicate with them. When he learned to garden, he was able to establish a connection with them and started helping in their home garden.”
In the fall, the first crop of citrus will be ready for picking from the trees that line the courtyard of the residential building. Students can help themselves to a tasty homegrown snack, peeling back the fragrant skin and diving in to juicy segments that can be shared with a friend. As the Thrive campus expands to include a new academic building, Elwood will scale up food production to grow for the cafeteria. “Thrive is very open to growth. Having an onboard administration is a dream! The kids are learning to grow and also eating from the garden. Horticulture and health consciousness go hand in hand.
“Louisiana is a great place for agriculture. We can grow 365 days a year. We would love to see these students come to Southern (University) to study agriculture. There are so many careers—farming, research, veterinarian, ag-economics, horticulture florist, forestry.”
“It’s really interesting how much [agriculture] touches our daily lives,” added Elwood, citing sixty plant varieties that can be used for flood mitigation. “Green infrastructure is the future of our world!”
Elwood’s gusto for gardening spreads easily to other schools and communities. She partners with committed groups to help them implement a flourishing garden. “At Southern, we developed a 14-lesson community garden curriculum, including how to choose a garden site. With the Growing Healthy Nutrition Education Program we contract with selected sites so they realize what it takes to keep it going.”
Sustainability is key in any gardening endeavor. “We will help with a build day and turn it over to them to maintain,” said Elwood. “You can’t start a garden on just an idea, it takes commitment.”