Service-learning Project Promotes Care of Planet and People

Many fourth grade students across the United States learn about the life cycles of plants. But at a school in Draper, Utah, students get hands-on, experiential learning, with students engaging in every aspect of gardening. From preparing the soil and weeding to picking the ripe vegetables and loading them onto a truck, the fourth graders do it all. The students from St. John the Baptist Catholic Elementary School enjoy getting their hands dirty and learning outside in their alternative classroom: Sister Celine’s garden.

Sister Celine Dounies, CSC, has been incorporating gardening into her class curriculum for years. “It’s important for students to know where their food comes from; it doesn’t just suddenly appear,” she says. Learning about how plants grow, what they need to thrive, and the care required from the gardener helps students recognize gardening as relationship. It also fosters a deeper appreciation for the food on their dinner plates and how it got there.

Discovery grows relationship

Sister Celine’s garden connects students with creation’s workings, beauty and surprises. For fourth grader Stella, gardening is fun “because I like to see what little seeds can turn into.” For Ethan, it’s all about “getting to spend time with nature.” While Diarmuid appreciates how “gardening is peaceful.”

And who could deny the many tangible pleasures of growing things?

“The best part of gardening is planting, because you get dirty,” says Ian.

And for Ethan, it’s “digging because you find cool creatures.”

But for Katy, the greatest reward is “getting to eat the yummy veggies.”

Witnessing the students’ discovery and joy grows Sisters Celine’s enjoyment too. “It’s great when the students dig up potatoes and see how big and gnarly they can be,” she says. “There’s that excitement of finding a watermelon under a big leaf, and seeing how things grow, from the beginning.”

Promoting Care of Earth and others

Each year, as a companion to the gardening project, the school hosts a Fall Fest. Families and community members come to snap up the end-of-season tomatoes, peppers, beets, turnips, squash and zucchini. Money earned from the sales typically goes to the St. John the Baptist Parish food bank or the Utah Food Bank.

But this last harvest, Sister Celine carried student involvement one step further. The gardening project assisted unhoused individuals in the community. Funds from the sale were used to purchase hygiene items. Then, when the supplies were gathered, all the fourth grade classes pieced together hygiene kits. Working in assembly-line fashion, they made 300 kits in one day, with 100 kits going out to people in need that same afternoon.

Students make connections

The service-learning project reinforces the inextricable link between caring for Earth and caring for people. What the good earth gives should be shared. Similarly, human gifts — resources, knowledge, skills, compassion — also are meant to be used and shared for the benefit of the Earth and others. “In putting together the hygiene kits the students could see that connection in what they were doing,” says Sister Celine. “It just went full circle.”

Asked how they felt when assembling the kits, fourth grader Jeremiah said, “I felt good that we were giving the hygiene kits to those that needed them.” And Chloe added, “I was glad I was helping people like me get the care they need. I thought about all of the kids getting excited to brush their teeth and take a shower.” Underscoring the thoughtfulness the students brought to this activity, Conrad shared, “[I] felt sad because it made me think about how many people are homeless.”

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This story also appeared in inSpirit magazine. To receive the magazine or the Annual Giving Report, use the button below and fill out our online request form. You can also sign up to receive the online newsletter from the Congregation’s Development Office.