In Dorchester, learning takes root
Garden project lets disabled pupils discover joy of cultivation
Two weeks ago, 14-year-old Keillen Fields could only watch from his electric wheelchair while his classmates hunched over to plant tulips in front of their Dorchester school for a science project.
But this week, the seventh-grader got dirty without having to get down on his hands and knees.
Fields joined his special education class and gardened for the first time, his thin wrists and strong fists digging and filling holes in the raised plot of soil.
More than a dozen volunteers from Boston College built a multilevel garden bed in the back corner of the New Boston Pilot Middle School last weekend, making it possible for students like Fields, who has cerebral palsy, to plant from wheelchairs and walkers.
Although his disability makes it hard for Fields to communicate verbally, the boy would tilt his head and look toward the sky in delight whenever he ran his curled fingers through the damp soil.
''One, two, three . . . drop," his teacher instructed.
A daffodil bulb fell from Fields's hand and landed in the hole he had dug.
The boy laughed softly, then smiled.
Out of a triangular plot of dirt sprang an adapted science lab of sorts: a three-tiered garden bound by plastic planks that range in height from 2 to 4 feet. When the daffodils, tulips, and irises students planted this week bloom in the spring, Fields's class will chart the plants' growth.
In the process, they'll also learn science, math, and English, said Bill MacDonald, who teaches in one of the school's nine classrooms for students with severe cognitive or physical disabilities. They'll learn about the seasons, plant reproduction, and the difference between annuals and perennials.
They'll hypothesize about which plants will grow faster depending on the type of soil and amount of sunlight and water, and they'll write an essay about plant life cycles.
''This allows them to understand the life cycle and biology in ways that are real to them," said Debbie Downes, the school's special education director.
The garden also serves a practical purpose. Students planted garlic bulbs, which they'll use in cooking class. That connection shows students how academics relate to real life, said Jane Cawley, an occupational therapist in the school who came up with the idea to build a garden accessible to everyone.
''It's so much more meaningful when you can sit in a wheelchair and put your hand in the dirt and put the garlic bulb in and see it come up, and you can put that garlic on toast," Cawley said.
Fields and his classmates, though, weren't thinking so far ahead.
''Can I dig now? Can I dig?" one student asked his teacher.
''Wait a second," MacDonald said. ''You've got to make sure the points are up and the roots are down. Remember, gravity makes the roots do down and the stem reaches towards the light."
Another boy with cerebral palsy, who'd been planting standing up, plopped down into a plastic pot full of dirt to ''keep the plants warm," then wondered aloud how to make dirt angels.
That night, Fields called his mother into his room as soon as he heard her keys in the door.
Felecia Fields recalled having to tell her son to slow down, to speak one word at a time as he said: ''Mommy, come here. Know what I did today? I was planting plants today. And I was in the dirt."
''Although it's difficult for him sometimes to use his hands, the garden is a great way for him to feel as normal as possible and fit in," she said. ''He asked me if he could check on his plants every week. He said, 'I can do this. I can plant some seeds. I can grow things. With my hands.' "
Tracy Jan can be reached at tjan@globe.com.