Students learn more than basics
Submitted by jcht2010 on
By Jessica Coleman
Staff Writer
Some of them are in there for behavioral reasons. Others for extra help in their classes. Others still are there to earn their GED.
There are as many reasons for being at Edna Alternative School as there are students, but there is one thing that there are none of at Edna Alternative School, according to Principal Sonya Proper. There isn’t one “bad kid.”
“They aren’t bad kids,” she said, “Some of them have made wrong choices, or bad choices, but we are here to help them get on the right track – to help them have a second chance.”
Proper works hard to ensure a learning environment for the students that is conducive to success not only academically, but in other aspects of their lives. Currently, Edna Alternative students are working in the school’s garden, which they planted themselves.
On January 30, Proper’s students planted beans, carrots, onions, and other vegetables as well as some flowers, and recently they harvested their first radish, with many more veggies to come. The exercise has not only been educational, but has also served as team building and to get the students outside to break up the monotony of the school day.
Demetrius Dilworth didn’t exactly have “grow a garden” on his bucket list, but he said he is enjoying it quite a bit.
“At first I didn’t want to do it,” he said, “because I didn’t want to get dirty, but when I saw everyone else out there, that’s when I decided I’d just try it, and I like doing it. It’s fun, and it feels good [when the plants started growing] because I could see that I accomplished something.”
Joshua Pesek planted morning glories that will climb a trellis he placed in the garden, to attract bees to pollenate.
“We water it twice a week,” said student Jonathan Snyder, who enjoys getting out of the classroom and into the sun to help in the garden.
“It’s a different experience,” said Pesek, “because I don’t usually plant stuff.”
While they joke around while in the garden, the students have shown that they take their garden very seriously, checking on their sprouts daily and watching their plants grow. They diligently pull weeds and check on the size of their new plants.
At the Edna Alternative School Garden, students are picking up not only gardening knowledge but skills related to team building, as well as breaking up their school days with an opportunity to get out and stretch their legs before returning to their studies. It’s a great experience all around, according to Proper, and her students agree.
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