September 2020 Volume 3 Issue 2

Jane Goodall, a famous Environmentalist known for helping to save the chimpanzee population in Tanzania

Africa, since the 1960s, is a world renowned advocate for protecting and coexisting with animals in the wild. Jane is looking at the current pandemic as “nature striking back”.

It feels like humans are destroying the natural environment at a rapid rate and the current 2020 pandemic has helped us to pause and relook at our current situation.

“What Happened When We All Stopped” a children’s book by Tom and Bee Rivett-Canac is a book that can help us refocus on what is important in our lives and help us reflect about the current pandemic. The message from the book is clear, change…“starts with a whisper” (quote from the book). It’s interesting that during the lockdown, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions fell drastically across countries and continents, thus, allowing nature to be undisturbed.

“The future is unwritten... we, who are here now, get to choose where we take the human story next” (from What Happened When We All Stopped).

So, here I am trying to make sense of my role as an educator in all of this. I am reflecting about the world and its current condition. What can we do as educators to help make the world a better place? How can we create our own whispers with students and our communities and turn these whispers into something more? Something better?

The current situation in education is like no other. We have to conduct ourselves with so much caution and think about how to conduct ourselves safely in the classroom for fear of spreading The Covid-19. And now, because of the fear and potential harm from The Covid-19, many students are going to continue with a virtual learning environment. I am faced with the challenge of teaching virtually once again.

How do I teach online and yet find ways to connect to the natural world with these students to help improve their mental wellness? How do we create an online learning environment to encourage creativity and foster ideas of connecting who they are with the natural world?

Connecting students with the natural world requires a whole community to come together. One example of bringing a community together is The Garden of Hope, located north of Crossfield, and it is a place where a community comes together to learn how to “grow together”. The Garden of Hope is a 200 by 100 foot portion of land that has been allocated for gardening and is sponsored by the Crossfield Baptist Church. In 2016, the land was prepared to accommodate a garden that grows fresh produce for the Airdrie Food Bank and produce also used for the Airdrie Community Kitchen.

This summer at least 30 youth volunteers from the Airdrie Youth Volunteer Corps have been attending the garden bi-weekly to water and weed. The garden is a great opportunity for kids to “get their hands dirty” and experience what a rural setting is like. They also learn about real life hardships, as some of the crops were destroyed by hail in July and the youth learned about perseverance and finding ways to work around these hardships. I think that giving youth an opportunity to give back and be a part of their community can help build their self esteem and confidence.

Head Farmer Luke (member of The Baptist Church) is always at The Garden of Hope to lend a helping hand. This charismatic farmer helps to train and teach the youth what it takes to maintain a successful farm. He also let’s the youth try out the tractor, which is a fan favourite!

On August 19th the potato harvest started. I got to be a part of harvesting potatoes and I felt a connection to the land and the people. It made us all feel so alive! The youth collected so many potatoes and were so excited! How meaningful it was to spend a day helping to harvest for the Airdrie Food Bank!

Dorthy May and Ang Lutz, YVC leaders are excited as they are going to host a big Harvest Fest in September, celebrating their one year anniversary of YVC-Airdrie along with harvesting the rest of the crops for the Airdrie Food Bank. The youth will collect the remaining beans, carrots, beets and zucchini. The fresh produce will go to help families who need a little help from the Airdrie food bank this September.

As I’m watching Global News this week, the news stated that in the Spring 14.6 % of Calgarians labeled their households as food insecure. Sadly, experts are predicting the need for food from food banks in September will be even greater. Food insecurity is just one of the ways this pandemic is hurting the youngest Calgarians.

Maybe there should be a shift in what we teach? Maybe we need to focus more on teaching how to improve our communities? Maybe we need to look at how we can improve food security in case more issues with food scarcity occur in the future?

Farmers are guardians of our land. Let’s support them! I am hoping to encourage the youth to help our community by buying local produce or even growing a few plants ourselves to reduce our ecological footprints and improve the nutrients in our diet.

As I enter the 2020 school year, one thing is for certain, I will be thinking daily of how I can connect with these students (who are at their computers all day) and help them to not forget about the magical world at their doorstep. I will try to help them embrace the beauty of nature and help them find ways to connect with the world. I will try to find new and innovative ways to work together (all stakeholders) to learn how to grow our own food and celebrate and protect our natural environments. I will try - that is the least I can do.

“In order to bloom, you must grow” Aly Aubrey. As I look back from the last online learning adventure, I feel a sense of gratitude to all the students who I worked with in the Spring. The connections we made together are something I will treasure forever. I thanked them all by giving them sunflowers to look after. I was so pleased when they sent photos in September to show me how they did!

“Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference. The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves. The greatest danger to our future is apathy.” Jane Goodall