Memphis, home to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is a vibrant city. Yet, like many large cities, it faces significant challenges. One of the most pressing issues is that Memphis has the highest percentage of people living in food deserts among any major U.S. metro area. A food desert is a geographic area with limited access to affordable, healthy food, such as from a grocery store or farmer’s market. To address this, the St. Jude STEMM Education and Outreach Program partners with school gardening initiatives to cultivate something powerful in Memphis: the future of food, culture, and community. 

Taking place in select schools within Shelby County, this partnership is providing more than just a place where students grow vegetables. It's teaching them about plants, agriculture, and their community so that students can learn to cultivate a new future. With science rooted in real-world problems, these lessons allow students to explore connections between food, their environment, history and culture through practical activities, critical thinking, and personal reflection. 

Leveraging STEMM as a tool for nurturing young scientists

The Kindergarten STEMM Gardening Initiative is part of a larger curriculum designed to teach Kindergarteners how to use Science, Technology, Education, Math, and Medicine (STEMM) as a tool to make sense of their world and care for themselves and others. Kindergarten is a critical time in a child’s academic journey when, which coincides with students developing a sense of self and community. It's during this formative stage that children begin to explore their role in the world and form whether they see themselves as agents of change or passive participants in society. This curriculum empowers them to recognize their potential to shape their world.

The STEMM Program’s Early Pathways K-8 Team, managed by Krisderlawn Motley, MAT, administers the Kindergarten Infectious Diseases and Wellness Collaborative in partnership with kindergarten teachers in the Memphis area. The curriculum collaborative is designed to enhance science education practices and curricula for early learners through year-long learning modules. The curriculum has been incorporated into 42 classrooms across 11 schools in Shelby County.

“The Kindergarten Infectious Disease and Wellness Collaborative is an excellent program that allows students to learn more about STEMM, apply this knowledge and envision themselves as scientists. By teaching students about food insecurity and how to access resources in their community, they can leverage STEMM to empower their future,” said Motley.

Hailey Wolfe, BS, program coordinator of the Kindergarten Collaborative and former teacher at Vollentine Elementary School, co-created this curriculum collaborative. “We initially began with a lesson on infectious diseases. Through that, we noticed gaps in their curriculum where we could offer meaningful, hands-on science lessons,” said Wolfe. Food and plant science were one of those gaps.

“Instead of just simply memorizing facts, we aimed to help students practice real scientific principles,” adds Wolfe.

Cultivating healthy choices

Through the Gardening Initiative, students learn about food deserts, food scarcity and the importance of having fresh produce and healthy food options. The curriculum focuses on teaching students about proper nutrition, which is critical in the Memphis area because the most recent report from Feeding America shows that about 13.4% of Shelby County residents live in a food desert. Across nine lessons from January to March, the students learn about the difference between nutritious and non-nutritious food and where to get nutritious food. 

The students create a map of their community, which they revisit when learning about food insecurity. Often, the map shows a mix of fast-food places, convenience stores, and houses, but no grocery store. This leads to a conversation about the realities of their communities, helping them connect the dots to understand what a food desert is and why access to healthy food is important. They track data on the types of food they eat throughout their day and assess how well it meets their nutritional needs.

After learning about the different types of food, the students get to grow their own nutritious food by planting and maintaining their own community garden. The students plant and nurture their garden throughout the Spring with the help of their teachers and other volunteers. This hands-on experience allows them to cultivate healthy fruits and vegetables while applying what they've learned about nutrition. As a result of the initiative, participants have established multiple community gardens that provide fresh produce to students and their families. 

The curriculum is receiving positive feedback from teachers who are seeing its benefits firsthand in their classrooms. “The community in my classroom has grown so much due to the lessons in the curriculum,” said Autumn Vanhorn, Kindergarten teacher at William H. Brewster Elementary School. “It is so nice to see my students communicating and learning more about themselves, others and the world.”

The magic within a single seed

As students learn about food, they also study the connections between food, the environment, and history. The curriculum highlights the contributions of farmers, community champions, and cooks who have worked to create access to healthy, sustainable food for communities with similar demographics to Memphis.

Wolfe sought to connect the students with a contemporary changemaker. "I wanted to show them not just history, but history-in-the-making by introducing them to someone who is currently doing this work. That’s when I heard about Ron Finley,” she said. 

Ron Finley, the founder of The Ron Finley Project, a non-profit that supports urban agriculture and food insecurity efforts, has long been a champion of empowering communities in food deserts, teaching people that growing their own food is not just about food security, but about reclaiming agency and independence. 

"Gardening reveals the magic within a single seed—one seed holds the potential for millennia of growth and can eventually grow into an entire forest,” said Finley. “You can plant that small seed, and from it, a tree grows. It’s like magic."

Finley connects with the students through virtual meetings and shows them the basics of gardening. Through this partnership, the Ron Finley Project provides soil to ensure the students have the resources they need to grow their community garden. 

Growing minds and community

In addition to planting seeds in the garden, the Gardening Initiative plants seeds of community and environmental awareness in the minds of the students. As they nurture the growth of their plants, they also cultivate an understanding of the importance of sustainability and nutrition. This experience encourages them to think critically about where their food comes from and how they can positively impact their communities.

Volunteers are needed this summer to maintain the gardens, ensuring they thrive and provide fresh food. Your support will help sustain the gardens and ensure continued access to fresh produce.

For more information on how to get involved, contact Hailey Wolfe at hailey.wolfe@stjude.org.