On this episode, I Zoom in Sonya Harris and we chat about how to start a school garden.
Born and raised in Paulsboro, New Jersey, Sonya Harris is a Teacher of Special Education at the Dorothy L. Bullock Elementary School, in Glassboro, NJ. She received her BSEd in Special Education at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and is a 20+ year teaching veteran, with residence at Bullock for over 12 years, where she is now known as the “Garden Teacher” for her role in bringing an organic edible garden to the school.
In the fall of 2013, Sonya gathered a group of teachers together to plan a garden at the Bullock School, which could be used as a space to teach students across the curriculum through gardening. She contacted celebrity landscaper Ahmed Hassan via social media for advice. Not only did he respond to her message a few hours later, he advised her and her Bullock Garden Team on what was needed to establish a sustainable school garden. Ahmed connected Sonya with local South Jersey landscape designer, Mike Pasquarello of Elite Landscaping in Berlin, NJ. Together, after almost a year of planning, partnerships with landscape and horticultural experts from across the country, sponsored donations and fundraising efforts, the Bullock Elementary Children's Garden became a reality the weekend of May 2-3, 2015.
In October 2016, Sonya was awarded the very first “Best in New Jersey” Jersey Fresh Farm-to-School Award by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture for her drive in ensuring that the Bullock Children’s Garden serves as a tool for assisting teachers in teaching children across the curriculum through garden education, provides free, fresh, organic produce to the local low-income community, where the school is located (helping to eliminate a food desert) and for partnering with several organizations and green industry leaders to ensure successful learning opportunities for the Bullock Elementary students. She also runs an after-school club for at-risk children, teaching them the value of gardening, growing your own food, caring for the earth, and using interaction with nature to reduce feelings of frustration, anger, and depression.
She loves spending time gardening at home and with the children at the school garden. Sonya is also currently leading the expansion of the garden education initiative throughout the Glassboro School District and with the Borough of Glassboro to increase sustainability awareness and Green initiatives. She is currently mentoring several schools across the United States assisting them in creating school gardens, and partners with members and organizations in the Green Industry across the United States, Australia, UK, and South Africa.
In 2017 Sonya established the nonprofit The Bullock Garden Project, Inc. The role of this nonprofit is to assist schools serving large populations of students who are at-risk, receiving special education services, and/or low-income and food insecurity with establishing and implementing school gardens. She has won several awards, including the most recent awards: New Jersey Agricultural Society’s Learning Through Gardening 2018 Teacher of the Year, and Project Green Schools 2018 Outstanding Green Education Program Director.
Please connect with Sonya on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NJGardenTeacher
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