SRU program aims to increase opportunities through garden
The Tower Garden doesn’t exactly tower over Slippery Rock University students using the indoor plant-growing system.
However, the 58-inch tall classroom learning and professional development tool has been helping college students reach new heights when it comes to wellness education since 2016.
“People are surprised when they see it and wonder if it is even possible to grow plants there,” said Stephanie Polach, a freshman early childhood/special education major responsible for maintaining the tower this year.
“I love seeing people’s reactions because once they become interested, they start asking questions about eating the vegetables.”
Located in a Morrow Field House hallway, the system resembles an exotic produce section display in a grocery store, with peas, lettuce, chives and kale growing out of the tower’s 32 openings. It is surrounded by four LED columns to provide artificial light for plant growth.
Each year, a freshman from the College of Education’s Professor Protege program is assigned the project as a professional development opportunity. Proteges are selected from a pool of incoming freshmen applicants and matched with a professor for one-on-one mentoring and professional development opportunities while earning up to $800.
Polach is working this year with Hannah Brewer, associate professor of physical and health education, whose junior-level School Nutrition and Wellness course uses the tower to conduct class projects for wellness teacher education assignments appropriate for children in elementary and middle schools.
“We use the Tower Garden for teaching purposes to get our students aware of how it works, how it can be used in schools and why it can used to help kids maintain healthy eating habits,” Brewer said. “Healthy lifestyles isn’t just taught in a health class or a gymnasium, but throughout the whole school.”
Brewer said that in developing the tower, SRU looked to public schools doing a good job of whole-school wellness — especially nutrition education. She said one of the biggest barriers to nutrition among school children is their low consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, adding the increased difficulty faced by children in urban public schools.
“(The Tower Garden) is a way to engage the whole school, not just the physical education teachers, in terms of promoting wellness among kids,” Brewer said. “A lot of kids are hesitant to try new things and they get in a rut with the foods they are used to (eating) that have been introduced at home.”
Growing up, Polach was heavily involved in a youth leadership program that engaged teens with activities, including gardening, cooking and community engagement.
“(Nutrition and gardening) is important for anyone, not just children, but when you introduce it to a young age group it clicks in their minds that everyone eats food, so why not make it healthy and grow it on your own?” Polach said.
Justin Zackal is a communication specialist with Slippery Rock University.
