Helping Hands: A School in Every Garden

“Education is the only way to make change, to make a difference,” said Lisa Sachen.

Sachen and her husband, Joe Sachen are co-founders of Savannah's Organic Ranch, a non-profit organization that was created in honor of their daughter, Savannah, who died at age eight of a rare form of cardiac cancer.

Savannah’s dream was to have an organic farm when she grew up, and to educate others on the benefits of eating organic foods. SOR is helping to fulfill her dream.

Through Savannah’s Organic Garden Program, gardens have been installed at eight schools.

“It’s evolving,” Lisa said of SOR’s education program in schools. “Our original focus was on kindergarten, but that puts a lot of responsibility on teachers.”

Lisa said research shows that when kids start gardening at a young age, they learn to make healthier decisions about the food they eat.

“Those kids carry those choices through their lives and make healthier choices as adults,” she said.

“The challenge is to have teachers and administrators commit to assimilating another component into their already jam-packed day,” Lisa said.

To meet that challenge, Lisa developed a curriculum based on California standards. She is working to integrate her education program at the eight schools that already have gardens.

A ninth garden will be installed at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo this summer, and SOR will be a part of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) program at Newhart.

“We were hesitant at first, since they did not fit our initial focus, as a middle school,” Lisa said, “but when we learned about STEAM and the enthusiasm of the teachers and the principal, we thought this could be a great opportunity.”

Lisa wants students to experience the “touching and feeling and interactive learning” that takes place in a garden.

“Learning becomes more relevant,” she said.  “A garden is a perfect way to incorporate graphing, counting rows and seeds, measuring the growth of a bean plant.”

Lisa said literature can be included in a garden program by reading garden-based books or through journaling, something that Savannah enjoyed.

“She would seek out information,” Lisa said of Savannah. “She would come up with her own little garden field journals. She loved to garden. She was always planting our pits and seeds.”

 A garden offers children many life lessons.

“They learn about the stewardship of the earth, our soil and our water,” Lisa said, “and they become appreciative of the work that’s involved and the community effort that it takes.”

Lisa is especially excited about SOR’s outreach alliance with Sage Hill School in Newport Beach. As part of this program, high school students from Sage Hill help younger students with gardening projects.

“That would just thrill Savannah” Lisa said. “Kids helping other kids.”

Lisa summed up the purpose of Savannah’s dream when she quoted A.G. Kawamura, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, who said, “What a wonderful goal it is to have a garden at every school, because there’s a school in every garden.”

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To learn more about Savannah’s Organic Ranch, or to support the Fifth Annual Savannah’s Organic Ranch Golf Tournament on May 24, visit savannahsorganicranch.org.