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Mostly Cloudy Kids at Sea Cliff Elementary have a magic garden
No one knows just how special a garden can be until its plants are in bloom and it’s inhabited by wildlife. A garden can also bring people together through teamwork, which the Sea Cliff School Gardening Club has been successful in doing by impacting its students and the district in its active role in the community.
Mojdeh Hassani, a Sea Cliff Elementary School teacher for 24 years serves as the club’s advisor. She’s very passionate about the club, referring to it more as an “organic micro-farm.” During the summer she orchestrates the planting and harvesting of vegetables for local food pantries, charitable organizations and families too.
Although the gardening club is offered at Sea Cliff Elementary, the idea to create it came from parents attending the school. It was after the idea was introduced to the school’s Parent Community Association, that the district hired a Southold farmer to come to educate the students.
Then Sea Cliff parents began working on raising funds for establishing a school garden. Next, with the PCA’s support, parents began working on designing and building a greenhouse. The Gardening Club soon became one of the most popular clubs in the school.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the club continued, but the farmer was no longer able to visit. It was important to parents and the school that the club continues during that time because they wanted the students to be immersed in a hands-on experience to develop a sense of character. They also thought it would be beneficial for students to help their community by providing vegetables from their garden.
Hassani spoke about the club forming collaborations within the community, which they did by working with
Nosh Delivers and the lunch program at Sea Cliff High School.
But the club’s well-known partnership has been with Peggy Como at the Mutual Concerns Committee in Sea Cliff. For the past six years during the summer the club has donated to Mutual Concerns’ food pantry and assisted in its community activities. The club is currently in talks of a future collaboration with St. Boniface’s Food Pantry.
The school plans to merge the club and the curriculum by introducing students to the living environment in science curriculum in the spring. For example, they will learn about the power of black gold, also known as compost soil, and about the moisture and minerals in the dirt around the plants that provide its nutrients.
“I think it’s different for every kid, but I do think that when there’s experiential learning, which is hands-on learning, it’s more meaningful to kids at this age,” Hassani said. “Elementary school kids do need to experience things with their hands, with all their senses — with their eyes, ears, noses. It has to be a multi-sensory way of teaching and the garden provides that beautifully.”
Anyone can garden, she said. They will find it provides a feeling of joy to nurture plants.
Hassani took a huge basket of vegetables to Nosh the previous week, an experience that left her feeling proud of the hard work involved in growing food that was donated.
Other schools, like North Shore Middle School and Glen Head Elementary have begun to create their own school gardens. They are experiencing the same effect achieved at Sea Cliff Elementary. And it’s been noticed that the parents enjoy being a part of the garden, and have even donated to the organizations the club has been assisting.
The Gardening Club also formed a Life’s Skills program, a high school class for developmentally delayed students who work in the garden once a week. The response has been positive, which has encouraged other schools to give it a try.
In the meantime, club members are looking forward to their harvesting of garlic as a part of July’s harvest in time for the fall season.
To learn more about Hassani, the Gardening Club, or Sea Cliff Elementary visit NorthShoreSchools.org.
