This text is part of the Teachers’ Week special booklet
Growing lettuces at school: this original idea, which emerged in various schools in the province, is now leading to structured and unifying projects. Meeting with three teachers who have a green thumb.
In search of food autonomy at the Sacré-Coeur school in Saint-Donat, Catherine Lanthier was able to remedy a recurring problem: “We have very few students and no canteen concession wants to set up shop with us. So I looked for a way to prepare small snacks. The teacher first turns to a grocery store in town to collect unsold fruits and vegetables. “I had also started a greenhouse project in class. I wanted to interest the students and I saw it as a way to enhance our food offer,” she continues. Lettuces, fine herbs, bok choy… the crops grow richer with the seasons and the students pick from them what they need to spice up their meals.
At École Mitchell-Montcalm in Sherbrooke, Sylvie Lavallée leads the Les Thumbs Verts committee with her students, which is dedicated to plant care as well as farming. “We wanted to show that it is possible to get food without going to the grocery store,” says the science teacher. During the fall, we grew three varieties of lettuce, in a hydroponic greenhouse but also in the ground to compare the two types of culture. When the plants matured, we organized a large distribution: about 150 portions of salad were served to the young people of the school. »
A real added value for students
A teacher at Les Prés-Verts elementary school in Quebec City, Sylvie Fortin deplored the lack of interaction between children in regular classes and students with learning difficulties. Until the day she discovered a hydroponic greenhouse device suitable for classrooms. “We wanted to get kids from both types of classes to work together,” she says.
Following a collection of donations, the school acquired two greenhouses. Students can then meet to choose varieties, sow seeds or harvest. “We saw that the children were gradually forging links with each other, explains Ms.me Fort. This project has become a pretext to organize common activities and to get to know each other better. »
Horticulture has many positive effects on students, as Sylvie Lavallée has observed: “It’s really a plus in terms of academic motivation and emotional management. Gardening is a stress and anxiety regulating activity. According to Catherine Lanthier, the young people involved develop more self-confidence: “The students who carry out these tasks feel valued, they are proud to reap the fruits of their work. The sense of belonging to the school is strengthened. Such activities also make it possible to give meaning to the notions discussed in class, as Sylvie Fortin points out: “In science, we studied plants and acquired a vocabulary that the children now know how to use. When we talk about seedlings or photosynthesis, they can really experience it. »
Multifaceted projects
The realization of projects often gives rise to new ideas. In Quebec City, Sylvie Fortin and her students have partnered with Meals on Wheels, a self-help service that delivers meals to seniors who are isolated or who are losing their autonomy. “A volunteer came to see us and the children had the idea of sharing some of the vegetables harvested at school,” says the teacher. Sylvie Lavallée reports similar initiatives at the Mitchell-Montcalm school: “We will soon be growing flowering plants as part of a collaboration with CHSLDs. And we will work next year with the organization Moisson Estrie, which has set up a food bank. »
The projects stimulate young people’s interest in agriculture and nurture their ecological fiber. In Saint-Donat, a student committee meets every week to transform fruits and vegetables into consumable products. “We produce a lot of organic waste,” says Catherine Lanthier. All this material is recovered to make compost, which can then be reused on flower beds laid out as vegetable gardens. For outdoor crops, the prospect of the coming spring offers new possibilities. Sylvie Fortin and her students are already imagining their future schoolyard: “There will be a vegetable garden and we are also going to plant flowers. Children will be able to take care of their yard and beautify it with their own plants. Les Prés-Verts school has never lived up to its name so well!
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.