Vision

Our vision for Canada is…for our youth to recognize sustainable, traditional practices within the community. We want our community spaces to be a place for growth both for nature and our students learning. We are building two raised garden beds to beautify the school courtyard and teach the benefits of sustainable agriculture. Planting the “Three Sisters”, corn, squash and beans, teaches our students the history of agriculture in North America. It also allows the students to value symbiotic relationships. A mutually beneficial relationship, such as that in the garden, is an excellent example of our community relationships; we don’t just tolerate each other, we share and learn from each other.

Action

The JT Green Team, factored out cost and supplies to build the garden boxes. The students then learned some basic carpentry skills and put them to use building our garden boxes on Earth Day. We will be planting the seeds for our corn, squash and beans and maintain the garden. Our hope is to harvest in the fall and celebrate our success with a feast. Having the raised garden beds in the courtyard allows all students to observe the process and participate in the maintenance of the garden if they choose.

Reflection & Celebration

The garden building, along with a community clean-up and commuter challenge was our Earth Day celebration at John Taylor Collegiate. In the future we hope to have even more students involved in our events.