South Pike High School JROTC cadets are learning the rewards of growing their own garden while helping the community at the same time.
Retired Lt. Col. Gwendolyn Tavira came to South Pike as the new JROTC instructor in October 2016, around the time the program was up for re-accreditation.
“We have a requirement that we have to pass. The U.S. Army Cadet Command requires us to have more than community service; it has to have a learning component,” she said. “I wanted to do something more in line with what goes on here. I wanted it to be organic to Magnolia.”
Tavira decided to create a community garden at the school, and the Eagle Battalion Garden and Co-op was born.
Tavira said she got the idea from Pleasant Hill Elementary School in DeSoto County, where third-graders were recognized by former First Lady Michelle Obama for their community garden.
She said she showed a video of the garden to her cadets and the Career & Technical Center classes.
“Their test scores improved. They were in the 80 percentile and the average in Mississippi is 30 percent,” she said. “If they can improve their test scores just by growing a garden, then why can’t we?”
Tavira, a Florida native, said South Pike is on a block schedule and teachers have 90 minutes to teach as much as they can a day.
“A student checks out after 10 minutes, so this got our students out of the classroom and their hands dirty,” she said. “The garden is three-tenths of a mile from the classroom. It got students on their feet. If it’s cold, then we go in the greenhouse. If it’s hot and you’re sweaty, then you can sit in the shade.”
Tavira said she also saw an improvement in attendance.
“I was told there were going to be students who just weren’t going to show up to class,” she said, adding those students attend class now. “It keeps them actively engaged the entire time they’re in class.”
Tavira said she calls it agri-economics, because it teaches cadets STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — applications.
“They learn the science and mathematics behind gardening,” she said.
Tavira said the program went up for accreditation in February and she and Retired Master Sgt. Stanley Bridges wanted to be sure they were doing things that were in line with their requirements.
“We wanted to make sure the students can track their progress and actually eat what they grew,” she said.
But, she said all of her cadets were not on board with the idea.
“I’d say 90 percent were against the idea. ‘It’s hot. We don’t want to plant a garden. It’s dirty. I can’t get my nails dirty,’ ” Tavira said.
After convincing the cadets — and receiving approval from administration — they began clearing the land.
Tavira said she reached out to the construction teacher Ricky Thornton and the agriculture teacher Jerry Jones and both were on board for the idea.
“Coach Jones told the students that there should not be any hungry people in Mississippi. He said if you know how to grow your own food, then you’ll never be hungry,” Tavira said.
She said the cadets took Jones’ words and expounded upon it.
“They were cadets in the construction class and they built planters for the garden,” she said.
Tavira said the construction class also is building chicken coops for laying hens.
Tavira said the cadets agreed to give their harvest to those who need it.
She said they began planting seedlings and growing them in a greenhouse. “We then transferred them from the greenhouse to the garden in March after spring break,” she said.
She invites special education students to help in the garden once or twice a week.
“They love it,” she said. “They come out and see them worm bed, pick produce. They do PT with us.”
She said word of the garden spread and it became a synergy of different departments.
Tavira said cadets placed their names on a popsicle stick by the vegetables they planted so they can see the progress.
She said after the cadets saw their first harvest, their attitude toward the garden changed.
This semester, the students will take their harvest and sell it at the farmer’s market, Tavira said.
“They will have to come up with a business plan and they’ll work with farmers in the community and learn how the farmer’s market works,” she said.
Tavira said the students also will work with a rancher in the area and tag a piglet and a calf to see its life process.
She said students grow tomatoes, peas, collards, squash, zucchini, onions and potatoes.
Through a grant, they were able to plant an orchard of peaches, nectarines, apples, persimmons, grapes, muscadines and blueberries.
She said students also grow ferns, merigolds and other plants. Tavira said they will take their ferns and merigolds to the nursing home and they also give their harvest to the school’s cafeteria.
She said the next step is creating a community health and welless center on campus.
“We want to give back to the community. We want to create a state-of-the-art fitness center and have aerobics classes. It’s a place to workout and it creates a healthy environment for our students,” she said.
Tavira said the district is applying for a grant with Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Mississippi’s Healthy Campus program.
If awarded, South Pike would be the first pilot high school in Mississippi.
“They have an elementary division and a college division but they don’t have a high school division.”
She said the community garden and their work with the farmer’s market will help show Blue Cross, Blue Shield that South Pike is serious.
“It’ll give us skin in the game,” she said.
