Youngsters are working in their own garden in West Pullman and living the dream of a middle school science teacher.
"All these principles, everything we're doing out here is directly related to everything in a textbook: from photosynthesis to germination to soil and minerals. You can talk about the weather, cloud formations, insects, and pollination," said Monte Sier of Higgins Community Academy.
It's part of a partnership between the Higgins Community Academy and the Salvation Army; a two-week summer day-camp for 4th thru 8th grade. The students do everything from building the flower beds to planting and caring for vegetables, herbs and flowers -- all while getting great life lessons.
"Learning about the environment, teamwork, learning about fairness, tolerance, through these programs and that's what the kids need today, because they learn so much differently on the streets," said Higgins Community Academy principal Dr. Mabel Alford.
In an often-violent neighborhood, the Salvation Army says a little garden can make all the difference.
"Just a few blocks away from here last week there was a shooting," said Maj. Darlene Harvey of the Salvation Army. "You can see how young people are taking life. It shows us the importance of the Salvation Army creating safe havens for kids to be during the summer. But it also shows the value of life and nurturing life as they're doing here with fruits and vegetables."
"Flowers are like people," said 5th grader Sharielle Neal. "You have to give them certain things they need at a certain time."
But it's not all serious business. These young people are having fun.
"They gave me a plant and me and my grandmother have a garden at home and I grew tomatoes and I cooked fried green tomatoes," said 6th grader said Ariel Taylor. "How did they taste?" asked Hosea Sanders. "Delicious!" exclaimed Taylor.
Most of this produce will be ready for harvest by fall. And these young farmers have big plans for the big plants.
"We're gonna have vegetables for sale to the community and hopefully we will. Last year, we had the community come together," explained middle school teacher Monte Sier. "We took the vegetables and cooked them in the kitchen. We saw people from the community we never saw before. We were in the kitchen. Kids were all cooking and slicing up the vegetables, frying them up and everybody sat down for about an hour."
"When I see those people receiving those fruits and vegetables, I feel like we've helped out in the world," said 9th grader Bryant Harris.
This is the second year for the green day camp. The Salvation Army hopes to expand the program as they prepare to open their multi-million dollar Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in the area in a couple of years.
http://www.kroccenterchicago.org
