Green thumbs lead to diplomas at Lachine elementary school

Two small boxes are illuminated in the corner of a classroom at école Martin-Bélanger in Lachine. The interior gardens, designed by 20 sixth-grade students and realised by Racine Carrée, an initiative started at Concordia University, will expand to an exterior greenhouse next year, and teach students more than how to grow their own food.

Basil sprouts, radish leaves and hollow stems of chives poke out of the earth. They don’t look like much, but these greens represent innovation, collaboration, and, hopefully, less dropouts.

“It’s not just agriculture: it’s design, science, math – it all comes together. The agriculture is just a final step,” said the school’s principal, Christine Villiard. It’s also about community, she explained. The produce from next year’s greenhouse will be used by the neighbouring co-op.

The original idea stemmed from the school’s location being in a food desert. “We start agriculture programs with our students so that they know how to grow vegetables on their balcony, to have a certain independence from the point of view of fresh food.”

The students keep the plants alive with the help of weekly workshops from GRAME (Groupe de recherche appliquée en macroécologie) through the Eco-Quartier Lachine.

“They’re so motivated,” said sixth-grade teacher, Zélane Chénier. She said how the students can’t wait to water and take care of the plants in class.

Expansion

The exterior greenhouse will be developed the same way as the interior gardens: through a hack-a-thon with Concordia. Last May, forty engineering academics volunteered to work with the Martin-Bélanger students.

“I’d never seen anything like it, there was one adult per student. The creative energy in the room . . . It was an extraordinary experience for them,” said Villiard.

A jury combined the best ideas from each team, the engineers built the structure, that cost the school $500 in materials, and three weeks later it arrived at the school.

The students are exposed to higher education and different careers, a notion that might be working to avoid drop-outs.

“Some kids came up to us saying they love this project and want to be engineers,” said Sherwin Pereira, who founded Racine Carrée for a master’s level engineering course.

The project has since been integrated into Concordia’s community engagement office and is their contribution to Adopt-a-School and Youth Fusion commitments.

But the bottom line is making sure more children get their high school diploma.

“Even if they don’t go to university, if they at least finish high school and have the desire to do something, we reached our goal,” said Villiard.

Racine Carrée is also working with école Jardin-des-Saint-Anges in Lachine and will continue to help other schools. No two projects will be the same, as they change to suit the school’s needs.