Vision

My vision was to enhance my student’s knowledge about Indigenous worldviews and earth awareness. I wanted to provide a hands-on experience to my students where we could work alongside completing a project at the same time. We shared stories, laughter, and personal learning experiences together while we created dozens of medicine wheel gardens. The bonding was key as I had a mixture of grade 9-12 students, and my hope was to build lasting friendships while doing a civic action together.

Action

Medicine Wheel Gardens: A Journey of Healing, Learning, and Climate Action

At our high school, we believe that education should be more than textbooks and tests, and that we should give students a hands-on approach to learning. This belief led my students to take action and create dozens of medicine wheel gardens, big and small around and in our school building and community. What started as a simple idea grew into a powerful movement for sustainability, Indigenous awareness, and community healing. We researched Indigenous culture, medicine wheels and surveyed students on their knowledge of them before we started. Our goal was to create awareness and education through doing vs book study, and we succeeded. We designed several circular garden spaces shaped in the traditional medicine wheel. Each section of the wheel represents one of the four directions- North, East, South, and West-and includes colors, plants and teachings that reflect Indigenous worldviews. We also built many round circular hanging baskets with medicine wheel garden plants and representation and handed them out to school staff and one in our main office, library and student service center. Our goal was to turn the land into a living classroom- one that honors both Indigenous knowledge and the need for climate-conscious actions.
We wanted to undertake this action as we have increased our Indigenous population at school and course offerings. Our school is on unceded traditional territory and right along the river. Indigenous voices and teachings were overlooked in previous decades, and we wanted to address this from ever occurring again. The Medicine Wheel gardens were a way to change that. We wanted to create permanent spaces where Indigenous culture is celebrated, respected, and taught. Along with providing a space safe to go to and admire and self-reflect. Working with Elders over this school year we have gained even more of a clear path and view forward. We have gone on outings to pick sweetgrass and learning drum making. Activities like these make this project even more special and also respected. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Our generation is inheriting a world facing extreme weather, shrinking ecosystems, and rising temperatures. By creating some of these gardens we are helping restore biodiversity, improve soil health, and support local pollinators like bees and butterflies.
We choose the plants-based in the medicine wheel garden colors and also ones that require little water, and no chemical fertilizers, which helps reduce our school’s environmental footprint. Our gardens serve as a small-scale climate solution- and inspire bigger thinking. Hands on, Inclusive education is learning from the natural world. These gardens will allow students to walk around and admire every school year. This project also allowed students to learn about science through plant biology, social studies through cultural and storytelling. teachings, art through design. These gardens are inclusive and accessible spaces for all staff and students. This will help connect students with the land and each other. This helps us see education as something living and grounded in real-world experience.

The medicine wheel gardens are a direct response to the climate crisis because they promote regenerative practices instead of extractive practices. Humans are not separate from nature-we are part of it is the Indigenous worldview. Carbon reduction, water conservation, pollinator protection, waste reduction were our key components of this project.
My hopes are that the mindset shift the gardens encourage. They will teach us to slow down, to observe to care. In a world where fast consumption drives climate destruction, The Medicine Wheel Gardens are acts of resistance and hope.

Teachers will now be able to enjoy the new planted spots and allow for conversations to organically happen. Mental health will also show improvements, and the students loved creating these spaces and projects. The students loved working outside and being in nature while we laughed, told stores and created lasting imprints on our school community. We also helped the school meet environmental goals and reduce waste in what we did. Some local residents came and visited while we were creating the outdoor works and started conversations with the students. The one Indigenous youth in my class was especially proud and said it provided him a piece of healing in his life, which melted my heart. For us, this isn’t just a one-year project-it’s the beginning of a long-term change in how our school relates to the land and learning. Future students will inherit this space and add their own stories, plants, and teachings. It’s a living history of reconciliation and responsibility.

I truly believe these medicine wheel gardens are more than just plants in the ground. They are symbols of education can be when it’s rooted in respect, justice, and care for the Earth. It was also pointed out by a student from the climate action team that it doesn’t have too expensive or high tech. It literally can be seeds, soil, mulch, and stories.
This project has been good for the soul on so many levels and also brought a huge awareness to many students in the making of this project 🙂

Reflection & Celebration

This project was amazing, and I could not be more pleased with how it turned out and how happy the students were with the outcome. Delivering the baskets to staff and placing them around the school and surrounding areas made everyone aware of our project. The best part was when my students started explaining the 4 directions and meaning of the medicine wheel to people who would stop by and say how nice the flowers were and the design. Our grounds look beautiful for graduation in 2 weeks. I was worried with our late frosts up until a week and a half ago and we had to delay the planting portion of our project many times.
This is something I hope to do every year to build on it, to add something for our T&R Sept 30 school wide events.
I am very thankful for the opportunity to work with and receive this grant to achieve these results.