AmeriCorps HQ in downtown DC were celebrating AmeriCorps week with a special staff meeting for local and all national offices. Part of the meeting was a lunch time panel made up of AmeriCorps members from various programs. Two of Project CHANGE members, Sande Lee and Chiquita Battle, were invited to share about the impact AmeriCorps Project CHANGE is making on their lives and the lives of the kids they serve.
Sande and Chiquita, along with another Project CHANGE member Rose Darisme, are serving in a special project in different MCPS schools, Springbook High School, Einstein High School, Briggs Chaney Middle School, and others, teaching kids how to become more confident and socially and emotionally resilient. They are doing it in a unique and practical way. They teach kids how to grow their own food through Hydroponics and Urban farming.
The project attracts students because it is fun, and hands-on, and at the end of every month, the kids see the fruits of their husbandry with a local farmers market where the produce they have grown is shared with families who need it the most. Growing healthy food teaches kids about living healthy lives and cooperating together. The system requires some intense care and maintenance, to make sure the machines are clean and working, and the students learn the hard way that if they forget to care, the plants die, and no food is grown.
It is a win-win all the way, and only possible because of the dedication of members like Chiquita and Sande. Sande and her team have dreams of taking their project to every MCPS school and beyond.
