Guest blog post by CTNC AmeriCorps Service Member Allison Hren
What do plastic vegetables, 10,000 mosquito bites and glue sticks all have in common? During the week, all three are a big part of my day before 7 a.m. Having spent the last five years working as an outdoor educator, this is pretty normal stuff, but this time around, I’m adding a camera and a tripod into the mix—all with the goal of producing the Sprout Scouts Virtual Adventures digital learning series.
Before June of 2020, the term “distance learning” was pretty foreign to me. As a teacher, many things differ from year to year. I expect the topics, the environment, and the student group to change, but I never thought people all over the country would suddenly be scrambling to connect with students digitally. The pandemic appeared to shut down my job industry overnight. How was I supposed to be a hands-on-learning teacher in a situation like this? I needed to find a way to use my skills, and I wanted to do so in a meaningful way, all the while supporting my community in a time of crisis. In my search for a way to do all of this, I came across Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, where I wound up serving with CTNC AmeriCorps as an Urban Agriculture Education Coordinator.
Because of the disaster-relief nature of this position, you may find me doing many different things throughout the week: working the front desk, packing Grocery Bags for Seniors, or preparing grow kits for the Mobile Markets. Most of the time though, you’ll find me filming and editing. My focused, six-month project is to develop a virtual version of the FoodCorps Sprout Scouts Handbook, a tool used for an after-school garden education program that’s normally full of hands-in-the-dirt, food-tasting happiness, but is currently on PAUSE due to COVID-19. My focus is to take all my enthusiasm and excitement about the garden and turn it into videos that third through fifth graders can enjoy in green spaces at their own homes and in their communities. In the future, these videos will be a supplement or guide for teachers, after-school programs and the parents and supervisors of children, but until then, you’ll find me dressing up in costumes and running around the Camden Street Learning Garden, trying to bring it all to life.
Once the video series is finished and posted, you will be able to follow the journey of Sprout Scout Leader Allison and her alter ego “Al” preparing, caretaking, and harvesting from a garden, encouraging you to get your own hands dirty in the process! Each episode teaches a new skill, with snacks to make, and crafts to do all along the way. My experiences with the Food Shuttle have been varied and lively, and I’ve felt very lucky to serve in a way that allows me to create something both useful and joyful in this hectic time. Before too long, you’ll be able to come on a digital garden journey with me! I hope you’ll enjoy watching the videos as much as I have enjoyed making them.