Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/912628
as part of the Garden to Café program in San Diego Unified School District. Last year's grant from CTA's Institute for Teaching has taken the garden to a higher level at Montgomer y, a STE AM (science, technolog y, engineering, arts and math) magn et school w h ere L ep- p a rd i s G a rd e n He a l t h a n d We l l n e s s coordinator. The school's home economics room, which had fallen into disrepair, is now spruced up and used by eighth-graders she dubs the "Power Rangers," who cook healthy meals using food from the gar- den. Before the cooking classes started, she applied to Lowe's for a grant, and the home improvement giant donated three ovens, a dishwasher and a refrigerator. Leppard organi zes monthly " family dinners" with live cooking demonstra- t i o n s t h a t i n c l u d e g a r d e n f o o d s accompanied by lively discussions about n a t iv e f o o d s a n d c u l tu re . R e c e n t ly a Vietnamese family demonstrated how to make sprin g ro l l s, and attendees found them deli- cious. "It's a way for our school c o m m u n i ty t o s h a re h i s - t o r y, c u l t u r e a n d a m e a l together," says Leppard , a ST E AM re s o u rc e t e a c h e r a n d 2 0 1 0 S a n D i e g o Un i - fied Middle School Teacher o f t h e Ye a r. " P e o p l e c a n share a piece of themselves t h a t w o u l d n' t h a p p e n i n an ordinar y classroom . It h a s st re n g t h e n e d s c h o o l and c ommunity rel ations and is fostering a positive, forward-looking culture of h e a l t hy l iv i n g o n a n d of f campus." One teacher uses the gar- den for science lessons to study such things as photo- synthesis, composting and soil testing. A math teacher has students use the garden to calculate space for crops and measure how much fertilizer or water to add. Recently an aquaponics component was added to the garden, teaching stu- dents how to raise tilapia. While there has been much talk of making fish tacos, the students became attached to the fish as pets. So for now, they are off-limits for eating. Because stress relief plays an import- ant ro l e in overal l wel ln e ss, stud ent s created a Zen garden in a corner of the garden. " T h i s i s a p l a c e w h e r e s t u d e n t s c a n re l a x a n d b e a t h o m e w i t h t h e i r thoughts," says student Ventura Arreola. "Plus, it's a nice place to hang out." The focus on wellness and gardening has changed the school culture, observes L e p p a r d . " M o r e p e o p l e a r e p a y i n g attention and asking how they can get involved. We're sharing more, and we've become closer. I love the cultural shift." L O N G B E F O R E "cultural competency " b e c a m e a pr i or ity i n p u b li c s c h o o l s , Senorina (Noni) Rei s was busy creat- ing multicultural, relevant curriculum t o h e l p c u l tu ra l ly a n d l i n g u i st i c a l ly d i v e r s e s t u d e n t s s u c c e e d . D e c a d e s later, she's still at it. Schools have made strides, but there a re t i m e s R e i s st i l l h a s t o c o nv i n c e educators that it's necessary to incor- porate culturally relevant pedagogy into classroom materials and instructional strategies. Not so long ago, some may recall, students from other cultures were seen as having "deficits" that needed to be overcome for assimilation. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of Reis and other social justice activists, that kind of thinking has been replaced Students created a Zen garden in a corner of the larger garden. Leppard tests out the steps. NONI REIS Working toward cultural competency California Faculty Association PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP San Jose State University 26 cta.org