Earth Week With Calhoun School

In celebration of Earth Week this year, on May 21st, 2009, my 4th grade science students traveled to Brook Park in the South Bronx to participate in an amazing series of all-day community service activities. It was an extraordinarily memorable trip for all of us. Many remarked that it was “the best trip of the year.” Upon our departure, children rushed over to me to tell me how much they loved Brook Park and how badly they wanted to return.

As residents of the upper west side, the majority of my students had never been to the South Bronx before. In preparation for the trip, they learned that not all neighborhoods in New York City are privileged with access to green spaces with clean air to breathe as one experiences in Central Park. Through the Friends of Brook Park web site, they saw pictures of the transformation of the once junk/drug infested city lot into the splendor that is now Brook Park. The students were fascinated by the idea of ordinary citizens organizing to improve their own environment with a community garden.

Upon our approach to Brook Avenue and 141st, we were delighted to see the garden with our own eyes – to watch the sidewalks and pavement fall away into an incredibly beautiful, green oasis, filling an entire city block. The tension of the man-made urban streets seemed to melt away like a dream as we entered the garden gates and found ourselves immersed in a world of open sky and living green space. The children were captivated from the very moment we arrived and a palpable calm came over our group, consisting of about 50 children and 8 adults!

Harry Bubbins and the other garden educators greeted us. We learned about the reason for Brook Park’s name – the mysterious ancient brook which runs underneath the ground and the garden’s quest to uncover it. Through our walking tour of the garden, we learned about garden plants (which we were invited to taste), Christmas tree mulching, the value of compost, Willow Trees, labyrinths and the troubled history of the South Bronx which made the need for the garden so important. Throughout this experience, the children were also making their own discoveries: a group of boys found crystal formations in rocks; another group was enamored with two wandering kittens.

After the tour, our work began. We shoveled and spread mulch over the ground, sifted compost, dug holes to plant apple trees, broke up asphalt and worked collectively to pass heavy rocks from one area to another. I have never seen such young children work so hard with such intense enthusiasm and determination as they did on that day. The level of focus and group-collaboration they displayed was awe-inspiring and even more remarkable for its sheer effortlessness. No convincing or persuasion from adults was necessary! I saw groups of children work cooperatively to plant apple trees and to hammer heavy wedges into the asphalt, then carry the pieces away to a wheelbarrow. I saw nine-year-olds put all their strength into the breaking up of asphalt with sledgehammers.

As some children wrote later, “We were so responsible, like top-notch workers.” Another child wrote, “We knew we might never do this again.” It was clear to me that the children’s motivation stemmed from the fact that they genuinely cared about what they were doing, knew it was important and that they enjoyed it. They were entrusted with something real and were able to see the tangible results of their work.

We concluded our visit with a collective, silent walk through the labyrinth and a chance to reflect as a group on the experience. The labyrinth walk was a fitting ending to our journey, bringing us all back together through one shared experience.

The children’s enthusiasm for Brook Park has lived on at the Calhoun School both through numerous heartfelt letters of thanks and through public advocacy letters to government officials. Like them, I too am a believer in Brook Park and I want to see the flowing brook come alive once again and for more and more children to come to the garden to have the wonderful experience of a lifetime that we had. On that note, I ask you to please contribute whatever you can to this remarkable garden which brings such incredible joy to all who are lucky enough to encounter it.

Sincerely,

Amy Landau
Lower School Science Teacher
The Calhoun School