| Anne Carlson Center - Planting Seeds of Success |
Future CEO Stars Magazine - September 2008 From seeds of hope to fruits of compassion, one project at the Anne Carlsen Center in Jamestown, ND seems to be cultivating more and more interest each year.The Anne Carlsen Center was opened in 1941, and today offers a wide array of educational, therapeutic, vocational, communal and spiritual options for children and young adults with disabilities, as well as their families. A project that began as a small square of plowed dirt now includes multiple gardens, a solarium and established curriculum for the Center's students and residents. The solarium now stands on the spot that had been the garden the first year, a bit of a reminder of what an idea can grow into with enough support. In 2004, teachers, including Mary Lewis and Corby Maddock, took their curriculum idea out of the classroom and saw their students, who might otherwise be limited due to disability, reap the benefits. "Corby Maddock got a sod cutter and we couldn't tear it our his hands," said Lewis. "(Four years ago) a youth group of the Seventh-Day Adventists was here and helped us roll sod and carry it away. A lot of different people have helped and there have been a lot of people involved." With a program that crosses into multiple concentrations of study, the potential for learning is only limited by how creative the teachers can be. For instance, instead of teaching a student about addition on a chalkboard, teachers count out the numbers of seeds in a packet and add that total to another packet. An alternate reward for literacy is learning how to properly care for a plant, just one way in which education is kept fresh and fun. In another instance, by examining the life cycle of a plant, the creation of fossil fuels or how plant and animal cells differ can now be examined closely and easily explained. "We're doing reading, math and cooperative learning, among other things," said Lewis. "A lot of basic school learning takes place here." The benefits of having gardening curriculum do not stop there. Working in groups, students learn the value of teamwork when it comes to projects both large and small. Through the physical activity that accompanies the projects, students learn ways they can lead healthy, active lives. With the completion of the Center's solarium this year, all of these benefits are now available on a daily basis, regardless of sunlight, temperature, precipitation, or even season. The enclosed space also allows many of the Center's more medically fragile individuals to experience aspects of agriculture that might otherwise not be an option. "A lot of students come from restricted conditions because they are medically fragile or have physical restrictions or behavior needs," added Lewis. "But now kids have lots of opportunities to experience getting outside and getting dirty. That is part of our mission statement: That every kid has the right to get their fingers or toes in dirt." Students from the Anne Carlsen Center have participated in Marketplace for Kids by showcasing their innovative business ideas and distributing wonderful gifts to all participating students. Marketplace for Kids is sponsored by U.S. Senator Kent Conrad, ND Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson, and ND Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Wayne Sanstead. |