Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Anne Tang works in the garden with seventh-graders (from left) Stephen Rooney, Chris Nelson and Lorie Keahi.

Garden turns Union School students into 'green thumbs'

By Shari Kaplan

When a retired woman enthusiastic about growing plants joins forces with a teacher dedicated to enriching her students and her school, the end results are a flourishing garden and a learning experience.

Hoang Anh "Anne" Tang, a retired engineer, inventor and teacher, contacted Union Middle School principal Stan Bovee last year with a plan.

Teach children to think about and care for other living things--including plants--Tang says, and they will learn to be nurturing and responsible. Let them focus solely on themselves, TV or music, and they may embrace materialism, violence and substance abuse, among other things.

When Tang hooked up with teacher Marianne Bickett, the idea for a student-run garden blossomed.

"Anne is very concerned about the youth of today. She feels they need to feel connected to something. She feels she can be a catalyst in demonstrating to students how to care for plants and in showing them compassion," Bickett says, adding that Tang is a real "green thumb" for whom plants grow abundantly. In fact, almost every plant in the garden has been cultivated or donated by Tang.

Getting students connected to the earth first involved finding a suitable garden spot, which they discovered in an irregularly shaped area near the back of the school library.

Bickett, Tang, Tang's friend Youwanda Dregler and Bickett's sixth-period math students--all seventh-graders--worked together to clean the area, pull weeds and prepare it for planting. Student Chris Nelson's father helped by rototilling the soil and donating some supplies.

"It was really trashy before. It takes time to do it. I'm proud of what we did--that we made time to set aside our other stuff to do this. This is also setting a good example for younger kids," says student Joy Coffey.

All the while, Tang explained to students the importance of each step they were taking. Because the garden is not yet finished, there will be more lessons to come.

In the meantime, multicolored geraniums Tang propagated at home have taken root. Joining them are dusty miller and a variety of cacti. Plants and flowers the students are growing from seed include snapdragons, pansies, poppies and millet. There are even steppingstones.

"If we let them plant their own things, they learn where the flower comes from. They learn how long it takes and how much work it takes to raise a flower. When they learn that, they learn about responsibility, loving and caring," Tang says.

Bickett is also using the garden to apply mathematical and geometric concepts she teaches in the classroom, such as calculating the perimeter, area and shape of the garden, figuring the placement of plants and tracking plant growth. Students have also brought some of Tang's plants across the street to share with residents of the Almaden Care and Rehabilitation Center.

"Kids also learn about caring by giving plants to seniors. And kids feel important when somebody pays attention to them," Tang adds.

The garden, which Bickett and her students dedicated to Tang on Earth Day, has turned some students into "green thumbs" themselves.

"I think it's good to do something for the environment. Some people think adults did this, but it's all from students," Lorie Keahi says.

"It's fun because you learn about how to plant plants. It makes me feel good because I'm helping the environment," agrees Robert Loek, who has an affinity for this type of work from helping his mother's boyfriend do landscaping.

"We get to be out in the sun and see different kinds of birds and insects. It's fun doing the planting; we learn what it takes to keep plants growing," says Phillip Hague.

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