My Social Action Project

'In nature, nothing exists alone' - Rachel Carson

Gardening is the social action project that I chose to implement in my school. The school already had a vegetable garden in place but it was not taken care of. Thus, my project aimed at cleaning the vegetable garden, re-doing the posters and planting flowers and seedlings around the school. This project turned out to be very successful. Each grade was allocated a spot to plant the flowers and seeds I brought to school. During a certain allocated time period, each grade was called to their spot planting area. I had taught the learners how to plant and the importance of using fertilizer. My duty was also to monitor the learners and ensure that they are following rules and helping out. This project was fun and engaging for the learners and their educators.

After planting, the learners had to clean their working area. Two learners were also selected from each grade to undertake the responsibility of ensuring the plants are watered and the surrounding place is always neat.

SUCCESS AND CHALLENGES:

This project was successful and this can be seen by the selected learners per grade ensuring the plants were watered the days after. The environmental club was in charge of the vegetable garden, making sure it is watered and it is kept tidy at all times. Also, the learners and the staff members were also keen on helping out to uproot unnecessary roots and weeds growing and prepping the soil before planting. The educators also sponsored or brought seeds and plants for their class.

The biggest challenge faced was time. The planting for some areas and grades took longer than expected to complete. Also, another issue or challenge faced was that the learners became to excited and wanted to continuously check on the plants and this lead to the learners leaving in the middle of class or lesson time to do so. Hence, rules were put forward that if the learners leave class, they will be given a warning and detention.

This service learning has positively affected me as it made me realize even more that learning can definitely take place out of the classroom and without a textbook. This experience taught me that doing practical work can enhance teaching and learning. By gardening, I was able to make reference to Natural Sciences and the topic of Life and Living. This project also made me realize that some of the learners worked better outdoors and by doing such an activity, rather than sitting and learning in a classroom.

Since Covid 19, the learners barely had fun activities and thus, this gave them a chance to have fun, breathe and learn responsibility.

Keeping up with the gardening initiative will allow for the learners to always learn out of the classroom, gain a sense of responsibility and encourage them to work together in teams. Maintaining the vegetable garden also allows for the vegetables to be monitored and grown in decent conditions and environments. These vegetables can be used by the school kitchen and staff to cater food for the learners.