How garden programs get students excited about health

Tovah McCord, regional director for The Kitchen Community, is part of the Boulder, Colo.-based nonprofit organization’s Chicago efforts, which began this spring. The group, which establishes learning gardens for kids across the country, launched a yearlong student-led entrepreneurial program at four Chicago high schools. Below, McCord, shares some lessons on why programs like these can help operators get students excited about health.

Q. How independently are the students working in the garden?

We do have two college interns who work with the students, but they’re guiding them. So the students plant the garden. The interns and the person on our staff in charge of the program are really just supervising it. [The students] are doing the harvesting; they’re doing the watering; they are weighing the produce. This is very much a student-led program.

Q. Since the program runs for an entire year, how do you keep the students engaged and excited?

There are different phases in the program. In the summer months, students are being paid for their work in the garden, and they get the reward of actually growing a harvest. They get a field trip to The Kitchen [a restaurant in Chicago] where they work with the chefs and create dishes with their own produce, which in itself is rewarding. Then, in the classroom, they will be able to come up with their own business plan. So the fact that they have ownership of it really drives the student interest and engagement. 

Q. What are you hoping students will get out of the second part of the program, when they sell produce to restaurants?

I hope they will get a strong sense of pride and that they grow the skills and the confidence to know that they could run their own business as a future entrepreneur—whether that’s something related to food or gardening.