April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
ST. ANNE INSTITUTE, ALBANY
How does St. Anne garden grow? With teens working in greenhouse
How does St. Anne garden grow? With teens working in greenhouse
St. Anne Institute serves troubled adolescent girls through residential and day programs, and also provides preventive services for families. The greenhouse is run with the guidance of Cornell Cooperative Extension and master gardeners from the Underground Railroad Society of Upstate New York, as well as other organizations around the Capital District.
The students at St. Anne "pick out seeds and figure out what they want to grow," said work-study and work-experience coordinator Emily Sowek. "The kids here take care of [the greenhouse] and participate in everything, from seed to flower."
The master gardeners come in to assist and teach the girls about gardening.
About 10 percent of the school's students participate in the work-study program, but only a handful of those are able to work in the greenhouse. The qualifications are "good behavior and an interest in plants and horticulture," said Ms. Sowek.
Follow-through
Many St. Anne students don't have experience with committing to projects and following through, she said. Since work-study students open bank accounts to deposit their paychecks, they learn basic banking skills at the same time they're learning about gardening.
Working in the greenhouse also "helps them keep a schedule," Ms. Sowek said. "When we get [into] late April, early May, if somebody drops the ball and doesn't water on a weekend, we're going to have some stuff die out there."
That's a fact 17-year-old Sah-liah has learned well. As a work-study student in the greenhouse, "I get to see the plants get older and grow," she said. "It's responsibility. If you leave the plant unattended and you don't check on the plant, it can die.
"I just look at it like it's a baby. You have to make sure it's fed, make sure it's OK."
Sal-liah also enjoys mixing soil for the plants. In fact, Ms. Sowek said that a lot of the girls who struggle in traditional math classes are able to figure out ratios when mixing soil.
The greenhouse allows students an alternative, hands-on way to learn, said Ms. Sowek. Because the girls at St. Anne "come from such unstable backgrounds, they've never seen something from seed to flower. They've never seen anything to completion. The goal, the whole way around, is to show them a skill and also to stick with something."
Flowers and veggies
The greenhouse produces everything from vegetables to flowers: "If you can grow it, we grow it," Ms. Sowek stated.
The girls use the produce and herbs in culinary arts classes. They also sell their flowers, both cut and potted, to local organizations. Schuyler Mansion Farm, the Pine Hills Library, the John Bach Library after-school program, Voorheesville Elementary School, Teresian House nursing home and the Pride Center garden have all purchased plants from the St. Anne greenhouse.
New York State law requires that student workers be at least 14. Most of the girls who work in the greenhouse are between the ages 14 and 18, although Ms. Sowek does allow volunteers as young as 12 to help out.
Cycle of growth
The greenhouse is operated seasonally, from March to May. Nothing is planted during the summer months, but the girls work hard at weeding and making sure everything is ready for the winter.
In mid-October, they'll mulch the soil. Then, in mid-February, "we get the greenhouse in tip-top working order" for the spring, said Ms. Sowek.
After gardening with the work-study program for about 20 months, Sah-liah said she enjoys "meeting new people and working with others" in the greenhouse.
"We all get together as a team, and we work with people from outside who volunteer to help us," she said.[[In-content Ad]]
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