Hands-on Learning at Hope Gardens

Elementary students at P.S. 376 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, recently received the gift of an outdoor classroom, thanks to their science teacher, a partnership between the school and NYCHA, and the support of Assembly Member Maritza Davila.

Elementary students at P.S. 376 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, recently received the gift of an outdoor classroom, thanks to their science teacher, a partnership between the school and NYCHA, and the support of Assembly Member Maritza Davila.

Students will manage NYCHA’s Hope Gardens Himrod/Wilson community garden space. For many years, Jeanne Salchi, a science teacher at P.S. 376, noticed that the garden, located on the corner of Himrod Street and Wilson Avenue across the street from the school, was underused. She met with Assembly Member Davila to discuss how the school could gain access to the garden. Assembly Member Davila, who has lived in Bushwick since she was a child, worked with NYCHA and the school to make it happen.

“If we want our kids to care about the environment, it has to start in their neighborhoods and at home,” Ms. Salchi said. “My goal is for teachers and kids to see this garden as a resource. The big vision is to one day have every class be able to access this space, whether for a read aloud or to work on math problems.”

Prior to the build, NYCHA staff cleared the garden to make sure it was safe and ready for the children to garden. Because the garden doesn’t have access to water, the students built sub-irrigated planters for the five raised garden beds. This system allows plants to be watered from below the soil and conserves water so that the garden does not need to be manually watered every day.

On May 19, students and staff from P.S. 376, as well as volunteers from NYCHA and Assembly Member Davila’s office, participated in a planting celebration at the garden.

“What a wonderful way to celebrate Bushwick! We’re giving our young people an opportunity to learn about gardening,” Assembly Member Davila said. “It’s amazing – you just give them a piece of land and they have this hands-on experience. I have kindergarteners here that were giving me lessons on how this works. It’s a cultural thing as well — coming from PR, from Santo Domingo, from other countries in the Caribbean or Africa, this is what we were taught. This is a great way to teach children that we always have our Mother Earth to learn from and to grow our own food.”

Assembly Member Davila’s office is across the street from the garden. Now, along with the rest of the community, she’ll get to admire the beautiful gardening work of the students of P.S. 376.