Windsor Park Elementary School students debate community gardens
A line of citizens presented well-researched arguments and an elected council prepared to vote in the Corpus Christi ISD board room Tuesday — but unlike during a typical public meeting, every participant was in third grade.
Debating whether the city of Corpus Christi should invest in community gardens, the young students stood on step stools to reach the microphone when speaking.
Third graders in Windsor Park Elementary School’s International Baccalaureate participate in the mock debate activity each year.
“We have been doing a lot of studying about how individuals affect their community and what our rights and responsibilities are as citizens or our communities,” Teacher Hanna Patton-Elliott said.
Students interested in the city council wrote and delivered a campaign speech. Those elected were given the task of listening to the rest of their classmates argue either for or against community gardens.
Each student in the class researched community gardens, putting together a set of remarks to share with the council and with family members who gathered to watch.
Logan Pulich kicked off the debate, the first of many students to explain why they believe gardens benefit the community.
“First, spending sunny days gives you vitamin D from the sun which is good for your body,” Pulich said. “Next, seeing different plants can help you learn about them and you see different colors. Lastly, community gardens can be really good for you because they can grow lots of fruits and vegetables.”
Mae West was also thinking about wildlife.
“Rooftop gardens give birds places to build nests,” West said.
The pro-garden students presented many reasons to support their stance, including environmental impacts.
“It could bring a lot of shade,” John Olivo said. “This would bring down the temperature of our city.”
Many students also discussed air quality, and the role plants play in creating oxygen. Others thought community gardens would create a fun activity and benefit mental health.
“If someone’s angry you could take them to the community garden and they could chill out,” Jake Casarez said.
Only a handful of students argued against community gardens, primarily expressing concerns about the amount of work it would take to maintain a garden and the potential of untended gardens and overgrown, rotten pumpkins attracting pests.
In the end, the council of third graders voted to support community gardens.
Students spent weeks considering the topic, Patton-Elliott said, learning to write a persuasive argument.
“The kids don’t just get to learn, they get to see their learning happen in real life,” Patton-Elliott said.
Though the students don’t have a real-life petition for the official Corpus Christi City Council, they do have plans to begin planting in open garden plots at school, Patton-Elliott said.
“We do have a little garden space outside near the playground that’s currently not being used,” Patton-Elliott said. “They’ve been very inspired to do something with that garden now after all the research they’ve done.”
Student Jaival Desai said the project was fun.
“We got to learn about a lot of good things and we also read a lot of articles about bad things and difficulties and it was actually really fun to learn about it and I got a lot more knowledge,” Desai said.
Students Isaiah De Hoyos, Jaxten Eddins, Leila Garcia, a mock city council member, and Milam Sahadi, the mock mayor, said that they helped one another in class write good arguments.
“It took us a long time and it took concentration, and it was very stressful, but I feel good about myself,” Eddins said.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Windsor Park Elementary School students argue for community gardens
