Yasuhara High School's new garden is dirt-free and looks more like science fiction than the Farmers' Almanac.
“I find a room that has a lot of natural light,” says seventh-grade science teacher Cameron Barnes of a new school on North Foothills Drive. “Walking through this main square, the students showed some interest. They asked: "Is this a robot?" "
This is the tower garden, an additional interior structure that Spokane Public Schools has incorporated into the district's elementary schools and now high schools.
The goal is to instill an interest in plant life and water conservation where maintaining a traditional Spokane garden is difficult, said Scott Curwen, the school district's chief executive officer. An added benefit of Tower Garden is that students can learn skills by doing rather than reading from textbooks, and Yasuhara teachers are using the new learning tool in a variety of student-friendly ways.
“We're excited because it's hands-on learning,” said Kerwin, who brought the Tower Garden idea to Spokane through the Cincinnati school district, which incorporated structures into the STEM curriculum. "We want students to have that opportunity."
Last week, students from different Yasuhara classes began bringing seedlings to the tower, and over the next six to eight weeks, plants will grow ripe for harvest. Plants are grown in rock pools and are supplied with nutrients in the form of a solution pumped from a reservoir at their base to the root system below.
According to Burns, greenery is better for the tower, so the students planted lettuce, cabbage, and some herbs. They have planted some beans and peas at the base of the tower, which they hope the students will eat fresh from their garden at harvest time.
“The nice thing is that when you grow lettuce, you can cut it right in the basket,” Barnes said.
Lona Gately teaches blind and visually impaired students in Yasuhara. His students were amazed at how quickly his peas sprouted before being planted on the tower, with the stem already several inches in the air. Students can hold them in their hands and learn about different types of seeds and their sizes, Gately says.
"Then they can eat the final product," he said. "They don't live like that on Earth."
Rachel Honik's students were among those who began a hunger strike at Yasuhara Tower last week. Hennik is a qualified classroom teacher, a kind of special education teacher, whose children often spend all day with her to learn communication and social skills.
"It's also a career opportunity," said Honic, who taught at Gary High School for 12 years, where she helped create a rooftop greenhouse program where students grew their own plants to take home and sell to staff. .
According to Hoenick, Tower Gardens is a continuation of that education.
“It was a growth experience,” Honic said. "I hope this continues in Yasuhara."
Other teachers came to the garden with their own learning goals.
Lizzie Sanders and Bobby Konchuk, who work on education and humanities projects respectively, are working with community partners to explore how gardens can solve urban food deserts. Kelly Marsh, whose multilingual students speak English, writes landing instruction paragraphs to improve their reading and writing skills.
The district has purchased 20 tower gardens to support education in the district due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Kerwin said. The first was delivered to Longfellow Elementary School, where students used the tower to grow peppers for the sauce, he said.
“It was a wonderful opportunity. The elementary school has a science major, and that's where the garden is,” Kerwin said.
Barnes hopes that the students and staff at the school will own the Yasuhara Tower garden.
“I don't want you to sit in my room,” he said.
If the idea catches on, students will see how to grow food in a future environment where they will learn from each other.
“We want this to be a very inclusive part of our school where everyone participates in consumption and helping,” he said.
