School gardens help bridge the gap between today’s nature-deficit children and the environment. University of Houston-Clear Lake Associate Professor of Literature, Literacy and Library Science Bonnie Mackey recently published “A Librarian’s Guide to Elementary School Gardens,” a detailed resource guide for librarians, teachers and interested parents.  Mackey received grants from the Environmental Institute of Houston at UH-Clear Lake to establish elementary school gardens in the Dickinson, Pearland and Angleton school districts. Pictured above is the natural habitat garden that was established at Hughes Road Elementary in Dickinson in 2006.

Amid today’s high-tech and urban lifestyle, children are losing touch with nature and their natural environment says University of Houston-Clear Lake School of Education Associate Professor of Literacy, Language, and Library Science Bonnie Mackey. An avid naturalist, Mackey believes that one way to bridge the gap for nature-deficit children is by getting kids involved in elementary school gardens.

In fact, recent studies have shown that working in a school garden helps children to improve in science, as well as gain a greater understanding of and respect for the environment. It even helps to encourage healthier eating habits, one of the goals of the recently planted White House vegetable garden.

Mackey received multiple grants from the Environmental Institute of Houston (EIH) to establish gardens in area schools including the Dickinson, Angleton and Pearland school districts. Using those gardens as a starting point, she researched and coauthored with her daughter, Jennifer Mackey Stewart, a resource guide for school librarians, teachers and interested parents titled “A Librarian’s Guide to Cultivating an Elementary School Garden” published by Linworth Books.  Mackey believes the book is not only a how-to for building a vegetable, butterfly or natural habitat garden, but it also provides a wealth of additional resource materials – relevant books, websites, lesson plans, activities, potential funding sources and pertinent children’s story books. 

School gardens are not new to U.S. schools, Mackey says. The first ones appeared around the turn of the century. Over the years their popularity fluctuated. Interest surged during World War I as the government encouraged people to cultivate “Victory Gardens” to help the war effort, but then declined following World War II. Interest was again sparked during President Johnson’s War on Poverty, but waned only to receive an additional bump in 1993 when the American Horticultural Society held its first symposium on youth gardening for academic, nutritional and environmental purposes.

With growing concerns about the environment and global warming, school gardens are once again growing in popularity.

 “Environmental education is the wave of the future,” Mackey says.

Gardens are a great way to teach children about ecological systems and the delicate interdependencies of each. Mackey notes, too, that the activities called out in the book align with the National Science Teachers Association Education standards.

While a naturalist at heart, Mackey’s profession is that of a literacy and language arts professor. Her interest lies in “presenting and sharing information.” Her garden guidebook includes lists of related children’s story books that help teachers integrate the school garden experience with the world of learning, providing a multitude of intriguing activities. Mackey believes that a school garden is a hands-on teaching tool that allows both science and non-science teachers to introduce environmental education within their current curricula.

“Students can write descriptive essays about their garden for language arts and measure water, seeds and soil for math…and it can be used as a springboard to discuss habitats that exist in other parts of the country, and this knowledge can be integrated into social studies classes,” Mackey says. 

One of the biggest challenges of a school garden is its maintenance, or sustainability. It is not unusual for school gardens to be maintained for less than five years.

“Once you get them implemented, you have to have a group of people that are willing to maintain them,” Mackey explains. “Teachers will come and go, students will come and go, and principals will come and go.”

While the book suggests several possible solutions, Mackey says what worked at Hughes Road Elementary School in Dickinson was the garden’s adoption by a local church which decided that they would adopt the garden as their community outreach program.  The garden is still flourishing despite several intervening years.

The book may be obtained through Linworth books at http://www.linworth.com.