SEEDS OF HOPE

I came across a story about a proud Bronx native who stumbled into a teaching profession, only to discover he had a passion and knack for engaging the hardest-to-reach students. Two decades into his career he discovered the power of a plant to delight, nurture, and inspire curiosity in everyone from tattooed gang members to wide-eyed tots. Along the way, with passion, purpose, and hope, he learned some critical lessons and a few handy metaphors about greening the classroom and growing something greater.

It all starts with soil. Our communities are our soil. If a plant is going to thrive, it needs to take root in a healthy growing medium. The best soil for growing young minds and bodies is a thriving, supportive community. In every community around the world, this soil needs to be respected, refreshed, replenished, watered, and tended.

Seeds come next. For this teacher, he tells his students they are his seeds. They are packed with potential. His goal is to plant his seeds in the most fertile setting possible so they are able to cultivate their talents and realize their dreams. He is determined to grow something greater with the greatest natural resource in the world: the untapped human potential in low-status communities.

Then comes the harvest. His students’ efforts have yielded more than fifty thousand pounds of vegetables, along with improved attendance, reduced disciplinary issues, better academic results, increased health outcomes, and the immeasurable joy of sharing their bounty with others. They cook what we grow, too, in classrooms where the distance from farm to table is measured in footsteps. By following his own advice about healthier eating, he lost more than a hundred pounds.

He’d like to say it all started with a grand plan to transform public education, but it didn’t. His ultimate journey was to create a living, thriving, green classroom. In the process there’s been many surprising turns, setbacks, and heartbreak. But also, many unexpected partnerships he calls collisions, connections, and co-learnings. [1]

“Remember the days of past … [all] you endured”.  The fields you trod stirring the soil of the communities you’ve lived, the seeds you’ve scattered in word and deed, and the measure you’ve loved that watered and fertilized the soil and seeds.  Often, we do not get to see or recognize the growth as it occurs.  Yet for those who are faithful disciples, God does provide glimpses of the fruit born of these seeds of hope.

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[1] How One Teacher Is Planting Seeds of Hope in One of the Poorest Places in the Country, by Stephen Ritz. May 25, 2017.  Webpage: https://medium.com/thrive-global/how-one-teacher-is-planting-seeds-of-hope-in-one-of-the-poorest-places-in-the-country-da5af704de15