By Shannon Spurlock, Community Initiatives Coordinator
Samuels gardeners Janel and Amparo Denver’s Hampden South neighborhood is home to Samuels Elementary School, a school that educates today’s children for tomorrow’s world and empowers students to pursue life-long learning. This year, in partnership with Denver Urban Gardens, Samuels incorporated a school-based community garden to complement this mission and provide a stronger bridge between the neighborhood and school.
In May, after months of planning, parents, students, teachers and neighbors gathered at Samuels Elementary for their first community workday – a collective effort to build their forty-plot community garden together. On this momentous day, the group broke ground and began the process of building pathways and amending the soil with compost. Their goal was to complete the first five community beds; they exceeded their goal and completed nine. The dedication of a diverse group of community and school members, including students, made this possible. Accomplishments like this came to define their first season of building and growing together.
Almost six months later, as the Samuels Elementary School Community Garden is winding down its first growing season, the school and the surrounding community are able to reflect on what the community garden brings to their community. One parent, Pallas Quist, notes,
The garden (even in its baby stage) has brought beauty to a previously desolate space with its vibrant colors, its welcoming sunflowers, the greenery, the water, the life and even the activity of the occasional gardener at work in a lush vegetable patch. That beauty affects the eyes of every member of the Samuels staff and student body that passes by each day. I was personally impressed with the creativity displayed in each distinct garden plot, and I am very pleased to be a part of a special group of gardeners that are incredible individuals.
Feedback from other gardeners expresses similar feelings of pride in being part of something that so directly and positively contributes to the life of the school and surrounding neighborhood. Looking back on the progress that has been made, Jeff Harper, a parent at Samuels, reminisced, “To think one year ago, our garden was nothing but a eyesore and weed patch. To see the progress that we as a school and a community have been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time is nothing short of amazing. Seeing the community, school and local businesses getting involved in the project has brought me a huge sense of accomplishment and joy.”
Partnerships, teamwork, and a garden that is inclusive, reflecting the community in which it is located, are each hallmarks of a thriving community garden. The Samuels Elementary School Community Garden exemplifies these values and qualities. As Quist happily reports, “We have a growing list of people that have signed up to garden with us next spring.”
Congratulations to Samuels on an amazing first season of growing community and food together! The sense of community fostered by each gardener – whether a parent, teacher, student or neighbor – continues to contribute to a more deeply rooted community. In partnership, we look forward to 2013 and what the growing season will bring.
