Children observe and grow a variety a plants at the Migrant Education Community Teaching Garden, located at the Public Schools of Robeson County Central Office. The garden, which is part the Migrant Education Program, is geared toward teaching students the origins of their food and about living a more nutritious lifestyle.
                                 Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian

Children observe and grow a variety a plants at the Migrant Education Community Teaching Garden, located at the Public Schools of Robeson County Central Office. The garden, which is part the Migrant Education Program, is geared toward teaching students the origins of their food and about living a more nutritious lifestyle.

Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian

<p>Micaela Francisco, 14, and her 10-year-old brother, Jose, observe and draw different peppers planted at the Migrant Education Community Teaching Garden, part of the Migrant Education Program. The siblings and about a dozen other participants meet once a week and observe the garden and it various changes.</p>
                                 <p>Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian</p>

Micaela Francisco, 14, and her 10-year-old brother, Jose, observe and draw different peppers planted at the Migrant Education Community Teaching Garden, part of the Migrant Education Program. The siblings and about a dozen other participants meet once a week and observe the garden and it various changes.

Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian

<p>Serilda Goodwin, a recruiter for the Public Schools of Robeson County’s Migrant Education Program, reads about the processes of plants to children at the Migrant Education Community Teaching Garden outside of the PSRC Central Office.</p>
                                 <p>Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian</p>

Serilda Goodwin, a recruiter for the Public Schools of Robeson County’s Migrant Education Program, reads about the processes of plants to children at the Migrant Education Community Teaching Garden outside of the PSRC Central Office.

Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian

LUMBERTON — Situated on the grounds of the Public Schools of Robeson County Central Office is a teaching garden geared toward connecting children to the earth.

The garden, called the Migrant Education Community Teaching Garden, is a result of the Migrant Education Program, which is led by Serilda Goodwin, a program recruiter. The purpose of the Program is to help migrant students and youth meet high academic challenges by overcoming the obstacles created by frequent moves, educational disruption, cultural and language differences, and health-related problems.

“When it first began it was African American families following crops,” Goodwin said. “What happens when they’re doing those types of moves, they’re changing schools, they’re changing addresses, they’re loosing friends, they’re loosing educational time, so the real goal of the program is to lessen the chance of the breaks in the education of those students.”

With the help of grants from Kate B. Reynold Charitable Trust, Resourceful Communities, a grant received by The University of North Carolina at Pembroke from the Duke Energy Foundation, the garden came to life.

English-speaking families participate in the garden but the majority are Spanish-speaking families, Goodwin said. The group with youth ranging from ages as young as 2 years old meets every Saturday to tend the garden, which contains pumpkins, squash, beans, corn, heirloom tomatoes, herbs and peppers.

“It’s a teaching garden,” Goodwin said. “We’re teaching socialization; we’re teaching obviously the life cycle of the plant. We’re using it to teach everything we can.”

Each week, the children first observe the plants and the changes that have occurred in the past week.

“They’ll each pick a plant; they’ll draw the plant; they’ll do some journaling,” Goodwin said.

After journaling, participants then water the garden, hear a story and then end the day with music and dancing.

“The garden itself has awareness of eating things natural that are actually from the earth — not any chip and candy and junk, but eating things that are natural to build the body up to fight against the potential for diabetes, or heart disease and things like that,” Goodwin said.

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke partnered with the program to help create the garden, with students building the plant beds, pouring soil and providing some of the plants to be added to it.

Abigail Canela, a UNCP student who is double-majoring in chemistry and geo-environmental, brought wildflowers, tomato plants and herbs to be planted in the garden.

“I think it’s important to have children interact with the outdoor surroundings just to get familiar with how their food its grown just so they can help sustain themselves even more,” Canela said. “It brings a healthier connection to their foods.”

St. Pauls Elementary School Counselor Wendell Acosta came out one of the Saturday to learn about teaching garden techniques so he could take that knowledge back to the students that participate in the Garden Club at his own school.

The school is in the process of establishing its own garden that will consist of wildflower beds, a shed and a greenhouse. This project is also funded by the Duke Energy Foundation.

“I figured the more ideas I have and more ways I see it utilized, the more it gives you some creativity to incorporate it our school — whether they’re watering it, identifying or drawing,” Acosta said.

There are several lessons to be learned when connecting students with the earth.

“It teaches art. It teaches responsibility. It teach nurturing a goal, teamwork,” Acosta said. “A lot of those aspects we can look at and have an in-depth discussion. A lot of the vocabulary that they’re exposed to, it’s more likely to stick if they’ve got something tangible to go with.”

Tomeka Sinclair can be reached at [email protected] or 910-416-5865.