Mizzou Alternative Breaks Blog: Jacksonville

JackAttack: Connecting a Berry Farm, a School for Kids with Special Needs, and Health

March 25, 2015

How does a school for exceptional children, a berry farm, and a health-issues MAB trip relate? Initially, we didn't see the connection either. Today was Day Four of service for the MAB Jacksonville crew. The day began at 9 AM at the Berry Good Farms of Jacksonville, Florida. Before I begin the story of Berry Good Farms, I think it's best for you all to get to know Tim. Entering the farm, we were greeted by Tim, the founder of Berry Good Farms. Tim is a slim, fit, cheery, eclectic man whose age is made evident by his silvery-gray hair. Tim was educated in the field of agricultural husbandry, but spent several decades in the sheet metal industry to make a living for his family. His love for the garden, however, remained with him through retirement, and at that time, he started Berry Good Farms. What I didn't tell you before that might be beneficial to know is that Berry Good Farms operates in the back yard of the North Florida School for Special Education. One of Tim's close relatives has a developmental disability, and Tim started Berry Good Farms as a way to narrow the gap in educational disparities that exist for those with atypical needs. The students of the school spend time tilling, tending, and learning about the garden as an extracurricular activity.

Side note: for those of you who have never had the privilege of working with students with unique needs, most are exceptionally intelligent and creative, and instead of prejudicing these folks as developmentally disabled, it is much more beneficial and realistic to think of our friends as those who often do not express their thoughts, ideas, and opinions in a way that we commonly do. Interacting and serving those of unique needs, we realize that they have their own unique ways of expressing their personality and their creativity. As an example, imagine an initial interaction between you and someone who speaks a language different than yours. There are two prevailing responses to the differences between the two: (1) "The other person lacks my perspective, thus, their thoughts, motives, and actions are inferior to mine"; and (2) "I must find the path to common ground because I realize that only a unity of two perspectives will bring about a true, mutual understanding." The second, of course, we recognize as the right and true perspective. These two perspectives are often the two that people of unique needs face (with the unfortunate reality that most people's perspective fall into the former category). We must actively work towards a perspective that is right and true; a perspective that frees people with exceptional conditions from the bondage that we easily place them into.

Berry Good Farms is the coolest place on earth. Vegetables and fruits of every color, shape, and size, edible flowers, the smell of a variety of spices, a worm cafe (where worms transform compost into fertilizer), hydroponics systems, a sensory garden, a tilapia water nutrient-enrichment system, and a berry enclosure only begin to describe the sensory inputs that culminate within one first experiencing the garden (to add: under the realization that this all exists in the backyard of a school). The culinary school within the confines of the educational building helps teach students how to cook, bake, and sell the products of the garden to bring additional funding and community support to the program. The atmosphere of the garden is, of course, education-intensive. Tim is always willing to educate new- and old-comers to the garden. This is further reflected through the post-college students that intern with the school to serve their population of students. In the most natural fashion, Tim brings history, mathematics, and reading into the garden. An original grape vine from Thomas Jefferson's vineyard sits in the far corner of the garden and serves as a teaching tool for Tim as volunteers make their way toward the Worm Cafe. Students from the school count and place seeds into the plant starters that they have prepared. You can't turn a corner inside the garden without your eyes running into a sign explaining the background and history of a particular plant. The garden itself is an incredible teacher to students who don't easily relate to the dead, dry, boring, lecture-style instruction most children receive today.

We spent the first hour touring the garden, then split up into small groups to accomplish small garden tasks alongside the students. Personally, I worked with a girl who I'll call Jenny. Jenny had difficulty with vision, but absolutely loved to pull weeds (or as she called it: "weeding"). We began weeding the berry enclosure in preparation for the addition of new varieties of berries. Jenny and I finished our work in the berry enclosure, then found more weeds to pull by the greenhouse. Throughout the day, the group of MAB volunteers prepared the hydroponics towers for the addition of new plants, clipped and prepared lettuce leaves, weeded, seeded, swept, and prepared the tilapia water delivery system for a dirt-free plant-growing system. Tim was thrilled to have us at the farm and even invited us for dinner later in the week (blog to come in the future). Leaving the farm, however, we had felt as if our work at the farm was incomplete (fortunately, we still have a day of service with Berry Good to bring satisfaction to the work we have begun today). But (I think I can speak on our entire group's behalf when saying this), seeing a man and a school so dedicated to a cause in a situation where the norm is so easy to accept has given us hope and motivation in our own lives to face our challenges head on with patience. Holistically, the school was an incredible testament to the perspectives that should be influencing our education system today.

We often think of education as consisting of math, science, english, history, and if you're lucky, maybe physical education, yearbook, and foreign languages. But what about exceptional students? This assembly-line approach to education is counterproductive in many situations, especially for exceptional students. We as a society have began to understand this, but in most educational settings, a lack of funding and awareness has prevented adequate change from occurring. MAB's motto for the year is a quote by Margaret Mead, and it says, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." People like Tim are one in, well, 319 million. People like Tim are changing the face of education. We are now starting to realize that a heart for service and a cultural shift in the mindset of the population cannot occur through lobbying and big-government laws; instead, it begins with a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens. Tim's dedication to the things that are near to his heart: a love of the garden and a burden for those experiencing educational inequity. We can all learn something from Tim: if we stand firm to our passions, bring action to alleviate our burdens, and "never doubt," we can change the world.

The original question never got answered: How does a school for exceptional children, a berry farm, and a health-issues MAB trip relate? From reading our previous blog posts, I'm sure you can gather that the concept of being a health issues trip hasn't exactly materialized on our trip. The way I choose to see it is: we have gotten some incredible health-intensive experiences, each matched by a completely unrelated opportunity that pushes us to our limits as future professionals in the field of healthcare as to the diversity of encounters that we will experience throughout our professions--in some way or another. In a way, the "completely unrelated" opportunities are actually the glue that hold our experiences in health together. So the answer lies in the story I have already shared: The world is full of injustices and inefficiencies, but our unique perspectives bring unique passions and creativity to the table that, in the end will truly enlighten, motivate, and equip us to bring about the change we seek.

We see plenty of things "wrong" with the healthcare system. Yes. The world does. If the healthcare system was perfect, there would be no need for overnight patient rooms. But the healthcare system doesn't bring perfection to people. Among its goals are to prevent disease, to care for the hurting, and to educate its population. Miracles sometimes happen, restoration can occur, but it's not perfect. That seems pretty gloomy. But the incredible part is that, while the healthcare system has no restorative power as an institution, it consists of people, just as its population does. And if these people, us, the healthcare professionals of tomorrow, can provide hope to patients, can display unending determination for physical restoration, justice, and well-being as people like Tim do for exceptional children at a berry farm in North Florida, the world will be a better place.

Here are some pictures throughout the day. Enjoy!