“It is fascinating to see, learn and know how, what we eat, grows,” says 14 years old Kaushik. Along with his school mates from class IX and XI, he has grown more than 10 kg spinach in last five months on the roof top of their school building. “We have harvested good quality yield thrice since we started in May,” he adds with pride.
Very soon the students at Madurai Meenakshi Matriculation Higher Secondary School (MMMHSC) situated on the South bank of river Vaigai, will get to taste the fruits -- and vegetables -- of their labour.
Right now as beginners they are growing a few flowering and medicinal plants and greens in large wooden boxes and plastic tubs that are lined up on the terrace. The director of the school, K.Muthuraju, has a robust garden plan for his students. He hopes to soon expand the activity to 3,000 sq.ft area available on the terrace and also set up a mini green house.
Says Eleventh grader Sankar, “We have stopped gifting souvenirs and shawls to guests visiting our school.” While the senior students divided into batches take turns once a week to care for their mini terrace garden, the juniors make pretty bouquets with the flowers grown and present it to all guests.
“We even gift a bunch of spinach or tulasi sapling and people like it even more when told that the students have grown it,” gushes Gayathri of class IX. The leftover produce goes home with the teachers.
All it took was the Tamil movie 36 Vaiyadhinile to inspire. “I liked the film immensely and screened it in my school,” says Muthuraju. “Everybody was motivated to shift at least one science class per week outdoors. It is the best way for academic concepts to take roots,” he adds.
Archana Deiva, a lecturer at the K.L.N.Polytechnic College who has her own 300 sq.feet terrace garden at home and also runs a group called “Gather2Garden” to promote the need for growing and eating pesticide-free fresh food was called in to explain to the students how to grow, care and harvest organic food.
“Now we know how often and how much we need to water the plants,” says Gayathri. “After the lunch break each day, the biodegradable waste from the school is collected for composting and we have now learnt how to make manure,” says Sankar. “We feel so happy to see the plants growing so beautifully and I am doing it now in my home balcony as well,” says Krithika. “There is nothing more satisfying and rewarding than seeing the fruits of your labour,” adds her classmate.
In fact, most of the students say they take home their new knowledge and are also trying to change the way their families eat. “I am now in charge of my mother’s shopping list and make her buy organically grown vegetables and fruits from the market,” smiles Gautam.
“Children,” says Muthuraju, “are the best advocates for things that excite and interest them, and many now want to have their own garden at home.”
As class IX student karthick echoes, “I never knew the power of a seed and was overwhelmed to see the first sprouts while tending the soil.”
“We initially announced the organic garden on the terrace as a voluntary exercise thinking the typical teenagers would hardly be attracted to the activity,” says the biology teacher. “But our students grabbed the opportunity and took it in their stride and we happily changed our time-table to include the regular outdoor class for the high school graders.”
“Now we notice that our students are really motivated. They use extra energy, focus and emotions when they are working in the terrace garden -- more than when they are handling a workbook in the classroom,” chips in her colleague.
MMMHSC is perhaps the first and the only city school with the on-campus organic garden for hands-on education for its students. “Students learn and grow with such projects,” believes Muthuraju, who also has two more ‘firsts’ to flaunt but remains silent. Five years ago he installed a 1 MW solar plant on the premises and it meets the electricity requirements of the school. He plans to expand the capacity to 10 MW. “We no longer worry about power cuts,” he says.
Muthuraju is also promoting HAM Radio among the students and public in Madurai. His is the only school in this region to have the licence from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. While 100 of his school students have enrolled for the classes, he rues that not many people come even though he is offering free weekend classes for the public. “It gives you a different kind of high when you make your own antenna, scan radio frequencies and connect with strangers sometimes far away,” he says.
“Children need a little bit of our time and fresh air and whatever I am trying to bring in for their benefit is a seamless part of the school experience,” Muthuraju adds.
What the director of the school says:
“Garden-based learning is the simplest thing we can do for our children to reinforce the science education in schools. We should encourage young students to connect with nature and enable them to learn about how and from where the food comes. When they have the opportunity to plant and nurture something from start to end, they will responsibly make healthier food choices.” – K. Muthuraju, Director, Madurai Meenakshi Matriculation Higher Secondary School
(Making a difference is a fortnightly column about ordinary people and events that leave an extraordinary impact on us. E-mail soma.basu@thehindu.co.in to tell her about someone you know who is making a difference)
