Shirley Flake has been a member of University United Methodist Church for 17 years. A former elementary teacher, she is in her 15th year serving as the director of Kids Hope, in which volunteers work with students at McKinley Elementary in Baton Rouge. They mentor third graders. They lead fourth grade book clubs. They garden with fifth graders at the partner school. This school year, Flake led the design and construction of a new 2,500 square foot metal raised bed garden at McKinley Elementary that the student gardeners affectionately named, The Jaguar Jungle.
Flake has served as a Louisiana Master Gardener since 2007 and has logged almost 1,000 service hours. She has been a children's Sunday School teacher for almost 15 years as well.
For more information on how to volunteer, email [email protected].
Kids Hope volunteer Mindy Piontek shows students gardeners the vermicomposting worms at McKinley Elementary in Baton Rouge.
Tell us more about the collaboration between University United Methodist and McKinley Elementary.
In 1983, University United Methodist Church partnered with then-University Terrace Elementary. In 2000, our church became an affiliate of Kids Hope USA, a national mentoring program.
Because our church was already involved in the school, in addition to this new mentoring program, we continued to operate outside of the box.
In 2009, we built the first edible garden at University Terrace Elementary, which was inspired by P.E. coach Tom Talley. He was planting flowers and herbs all over the school's campus, and our volunteers noticed the enthusiasm the kids had with all the plants.
What role do you play in the program?
In 2010, I became the director of Kids Hope USA. At the new McKinley Elementary, I have volunteers who work with third graders one-on-one, mentoring. With fourth grade, we run a book club. Every Tuesday afternoon, more than 20 volunteers show up, and every single fourth grader is in a small book club. At the end of the school year, every student has added three chapter books to their home library that they've read at school.
This year, we built the fifth grade garden from funds from the church. That's probably the one that's nearest and dearest to my heart. A separate group of volunteers with the garden team meet with the fifth graders every Tuesday.
How long have you been gardening?
I think I've been gardening for my entire life. I've always been interested in nature, and I've always loved being outside and getting my hands dirty. I became a Louisiana Master Gardener in 2007. At the time, it was almost six months of classes required. It was a pretty intense program.
We know that the garden has touched so many students, volunteers and teachers. What difference do you think it has made in the community?
I've always said that the garden has a life of its own, and it's this big magnet that has this natural attraction to people. It's just insane — the enormity of it and the excitement.
The thing is, the children are so curious. Even at fifth grade, they're still not fully grasping the concept of where our food comes from and the process of growing it, so they're so curious about it. I think that's what motivates all of us.
You just never know what little spark they're going to take off and run with.
Last year, I received an email from a former student of our Kids Hope program. He has now graduated college, and he let me know that he was accepted into medical school. He served on one of our first fifth grade garden teams, and he was fascinated with it. He later became a beekeeper during high school, and now he's pursuing medicine. He wants to focus his research on holistic and natural plants.
You just never know what children are going to be taken by in the garden — and sometimes it's something that you don't even intentionally try to teach them.
McKinley Elementary principal Principal Veronica Sanders with Shirley Flake at the Jaguar Jungle Garden grand opening party in April.
How has the garden program made you a better gardener and/or organizer?
The curiosity that the children have, and their enthusiasm, fuels us. They ask us to grow certain things. They love dill and mint. There are some specific herbs that they like, and sometimes it's ones that I've never grown before.
This year we grew a lot of potatoes, which we've had good success with before. We were thinking about trying sweet potatoes, and I've never tried growing sweet potatoes.
We even tried vermicomposting, which was my first experience with worms. We were growing worms in what we called "the worm hotel." We fed them every week. You keep them misted, and then you can compost all of the food and produce into this really great fertilizer for our raised beds. You can also extract the liquid from them to fertilize the plants.
All of that was brand-new for us this year.
My volunteers and I are always open to just trying anything. Even if we fail at it, even if it's a massive flop, you're still going to learn something along the way.
I think that gardeners are lifelong learners to begin with. We aren't afraid of experimenting and trying new things and learning in the process. That's what fuels me, just trying something new and being inspired to learn something that I haven't tried before.
How has the garden program made a difference in your life?
I'm in awe of the kids. What I enjoy the most is witnessing the relationships grow between our volunteers and the students. Oftentimes, when I'm recruiting volunteers, I think they have certain skill sets that they can use to contribute to children.
What they don't realize is that the children have this internal skill set where they teach us so much along the way.
Watching the relationships form in the garden and in the book club, just spending time with a kid one hour, once a week, that's what keeps me going.
Is there anything else you want people to know?
The church has been so supportive. There's never been a need at the school that they haven't met head on. Their support is the reason why the partnership has existed for 41 years. It's rare that you have an organization that's committed for the long run and also willing to change over the years.
Another part involved in sustaining a long-term volunteer partnership is the willingness of the school administration, teachers and parents to invite and welcome volunteers. Principal Veronica Sanders's heart for educating children is huge, and her willingness to encourage learning experiences outside of the classroom is what makes the garden so successful.