Nov. 15, 2019 -- Gearity parent Amit Shuck believes what
many parents, teachers, and administrators across the country believe: “Our
goal is to give students the best chance for a successful future.” Shuck has a
unique way of doing it: gardening.Gearity, a state-certified STEM school, has long made use of
its expansive outdoor learning spaces. In addition to traditional gardens, the
school boasts a greenhouse for year-round use. According to Ms. Shuck, who runs
the after-school gardening club, the Gearity school garden is “an educational farm that enables the students to explore all the traditional and STEM disciplines in a hands-on manner.”
Students
from Pre-K to Grade 5 are welcome to join the gardening club, which began this fall and will hopefully be
offered again in the spring. Parents are welcome to attend alongside their
children, in the hopes that they will take the skills they learn and use them
at home.
Ms. Shuck, whose daughter is a Gearity 4th grader,
has a degree in Earth Science and spent ten years working for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service helping farmers and ranchers become more sustainable. She currently grows fruits and vegetables at home year-round and is “pushing the limits of what can be grown comfortably in a suburban temperate climate.”
The students who gathered recently to learn about and plant seeds for carrots, garlic, endive, and onions, wish that Ms. Shuck could push those limits far enough to figure out how to grow avocadoes in Cleveland. One student said “[Avocados] are my favorite,” and another added “I love guacamole.”
