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Goal

To ensure that students have a multisensory (i.e., taste, smell, touch, sight, sound) sustainable garden designed for them in order to enjoy mindful activities. Mindful activities (Mindfulness) promotes physical and mental wellness, engagement in learning, calmness, and more importantly allow students to return to their academic learning activities with a renewed purpose, focus, and dedication. 

What will be done with my students

In a middle school that has the fourth largest number of middle school students who are economically needy, it is important that there are opportunities to view beauty and experience and interact with nature. Various activities in addition to engaging in the care of the garden will be implemented. These activities primarily are derived from a book titled “The Mindful Gardener: A Journal”. Examples include:
1. Poetry readings in the garden
2. Sketching the Garden in “four seasons”
3. Sitting on one of the four benches and practicing meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness breathing
4. Listening to relaxing music in the garden
5. Slowing down and noticing the flora and fauna in the garden
6. Taking a magnifying glass to study the leaves of one of the plants and drawing that image
7. Leaf rubbing-using dried leaves
8. Taking a smooth stone and writing a word of affirmation on the stone (i.e., Gratitude, Grace, Breathe, Discover), and placing it in the garden
9. Studying the healing powers of the herbs and other plants
10. Cutting the herbs and drying them to make gifts for special people in their life





 

Benefits to my students

The Benefits of this project have the potential to be enormous. Firstly, all students and teachers will have the opportunity to walk through the garden and practice mindfulness. Other schools in the district and possibly outside the district can benefit from “The Mindful Gator Garden”. Initially, faculty who are members of the Social-Emotional Learning Committee will work on the construction of the garden in order to ensure that students are not exposed to the dangers of handling tools, wheelbarrows, nails, fences, etc. After the skeleton component of the garden is constructed, students will have the opportunity to take more of an active role in the formulation of the garden. Students will be involved in planting and nurturing herbs as they grow and caring for the perimeter of the garden (The perimeter will be styled similar to a Piet Oudolf design). Piet Oudolf has designed and inspired gardens around the world. Some of the most famous include the Lurie Garden (above a parking garage in Chicago, IL), and the High Line (in an abandoned railway in New York, New York). Because Piet Oudolf works to evoke an emotional response to nature, including a facsimile of his design would be perfect for The Mindful Gator Garden. Additionally, Piet Oudolf has created community gardens where children can experience nature such as the Oudolf Garden Detroit (Please see image of sketch for our garden design). 

Budget Narrative

The budget is primarily for the plants, benches, and fence to protect the investment of The Mindful Garden. Students and faculty alike will get to enjoy and explore the garden. More importantly, students will be exposed to high quality landscape design and architecture. Hopefully, this garden can be added to the great collection of community gardens that Piet Oudolf has influenced. A local family business will also be supported as a result of this grant. 

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