When you start a new school year, it is like a new adventure. Who will your teachers be? Who will be in your classes? Will you make new friends? As I enter the last month of my 6th grade year I can look back and on those questions and say, my 6th grade year has been wonderful in large part due to a teacher, a friend, who has become a large part of the Katie’s Krops family. Her name is Miss Fuller and she is my 6th grade science teacher.
Having a science teacher that is an excellent teacher is wonderful but nothing can compare to a teacher who supports you, believes in you and your dreams and guides you. Before I even set a foot in her classroom, Miss Fuller was eager to help. Over the summer, she met with me to find out how she could help and support the garden. Little did I know then, the garden would become our text book and our classroom.
We began the school year with a unit on soil, a perfect introduction to the garden. We started off testing soil for ‘real life applications’ (we would be planting in the soil we tested & the harvest would be donated to those in need in our community) and making trips to the garden to work. As we worked together ideas started to grow and before we knew it the entire 6th grade was undertaking a huge school & community wide composting project to help boost the harvest from the gardens by improving the soil with compost, the waste the school would normally toss in the trash.
That was only the beginning. Just like my gardens, it grew into so much more. It turned into unforgettable experiences.
Who would have ever thought that you would ride in a cop car or chip old Christmas trees with your science teacher? Well that’s exactly what we did. We collected 58 Christmas trees to compost for the gardens. To compost the trees, we needed to chip them. We called a parent at the school with a tree removal business and asked if he could come help us chip 58 trees. Everything was set in place and a couple days before the trees were to be chipped, we noticed the pile had shrunk. We had rearranged the trees to count them; maybe that’s why they looked different. Then we counted them, 39. WHAT??? Where had all our trees gone??? That was it; Miss Fuller and I called the cops. When they finally arrived they looked at us like “What? You called us over here because someone stole Christmas trees, after Christmas?” Most teachers would have looked at me like “Seriously? You want to call the police about stolen Christmas trees?” But not Miss Fuller, she believed in me and said, “We are calling.” Miss Fuller showed me that there is value in your hard work and you should not let anyone take anything from you (no matter how obscure). It was Miss Fuller’s and my first (& last!!!) ride in a cop car. It really brought out the investigators in us. Finally it was time to chip the 39 trees into mulch, with wax earplugs in we watched our collection of trees, minus the stolen ones, sucked into the giant wood chipper. Another first for both of us.
When I learned that our local homeless shelter that had been closed for months would be opening to serve dinners if someone would provide, cook and serve the meal I immediately signed up. Who was right there with me to organize the dinners, Miss Fuller. Since our first dinner in October we have worked together to provide healthy well balance meals to families in need in our community.
Our science classroom became a greenhouse this year and at times even a film studio. Miss Fuller was there to support, encourage and believe in my dream to providing healthy fresh food to people who are in need.
Miss Fuller has taught me that when someone believes in you, believes in your dreams, there is nothing you can’t do. I hope everyone has a teacher like Miss Fuller sometime in their life because everyone deserves a teacher as great as she is.
