Weekly in-garden activities are the highlight of my week. Who wouldn't love 40 students squealing with delight over strawberries and ladybugs, tomato blooms and radish sprouts? My weekly garden adventures are usually full of wonder and excitement, but this week held a different lesson.
You see, this week, our garden was trampled and destroyed. An unknown mischief maker felt the urge to stomp, kick, and uproot every plant, seedling and bulb.. leaving only the cinder blocks unturned. Much of our soil was kicked from the beds where footprints lay instead. Students were heartbroken and quite dismayed to find their hard work so hatefully demolished.
Devastating and unfair as it may seem, it is a lesson that must be learned. Life is often unkind and generally unfair. Hard work will go unnoticed and unappreciated. Things we value may not hold value to others. These are things we cannot change, we cannot prevent, and we cannot take revenge for.
Teachers were quick to guide and encourage.. we restored our beds as best we could; replanting anything that offered a glimmer of life. Conversation led to restoration and recovery instead of revenge and judgment. Students found comfort in the strawberries that seemed to escape the chaos, onions that seemed quite recoverable, and the reality that their fruit trees were untouched. In good faith I offered to seek out replacements as soon as possible that we might get them in before their testing schedule gets underway.
It is a hard lesson learned, but one that must be learned. In the end, I believe we are each better for it. I saw a beautiful side to these children I might not have seen otherwise. The side of hope!
