Livingston Special Needs School Teaches Life Skills Via Gardening

LIVINGSTON, NJ — A school in Livingston that serves people with autism and other related disabilities has earned a state award for its gardening programs.

Earlier this week, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) presented Academy360 in Livingston with the “Best in New Jersey Farm to School Award” for its Culinary Academy360 and local gardening efforts.

Academy360 is a program of the New Jersey-based nonprofit Spectrum360, which serves children and adults with autism and other related special needs.

According to NJDA Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher, Academy360 earned the nod of approval for using local produce in its “teaching kitchen” and growing plants in its greenhouse.

The lessons are therapeutic, but also help to develop students’ life skills, Fisher said.

“We try to teach our students the full circle of food: from seed, to harvest, to the kitchen, and finally the table,” Academy360 executive chef Michael Matthews said.

For example, there’s a greenhouse on campus that grows herbs, assorted greens, tomatoes and cucumbers – depending on the season, of course, Matthews said.

The learning has continued through the coronavirus pandemic, state officials said.

When the pandemic began in March, Matthews continued to teach by using Google Classroom. He decided the theme for the cooking classes for each week, and he and the students prepared the dishes. Critical lessons such as culinary math, culinary science, weights, measure, food safety, kitchen safety, proper personal hygiene, world geography, appropriate cutlery skills, time, and temperature were reinforced while creating the dishes.

To support families and provide further enrichment to the Spectrum360 community, Matthews also led an after-school virtual cooking class for all family, staff, and students, which allowed them to explore everything from cake decorating to barbeque preparations.

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