My commute flies by as I repeatedly list the materials I am going to need for that afternoon, and I make a quick stop to buy a bag of potting soil and a to-go salad for lunch. I get to the school after the first bell has rung, avoiding the chaos of drop-off, which allows me to hobble towards the school, kind-of carrying, kind-of dragging seemingly everything I’ve ever owned without drawing too much attention to myself. I ring the school’s doorbell and wait for what feels like ages for the sound of the door clicking, as gravity pulls heavily on me and my cargo.

I dump all of my supplies onto the floor of the thankfully vacated office space that houses everything I have needed and could possibly need, and drop myself to sit criss-cross applesauce amidst my mess. I carefully reorganize everything for easy access during my lesson, knowing full-well that my tidy paper bag would look like a tiny tornado had struck it by the end of the hour. Feeling confident that I have remembered everything, and then some, I pull out Notebook #1 and proceed to write a lesson script that I will not look at one time while actually teaching.

I glance at the clock and jump up, slamming the lid onto my half-eaten salad, astounded once again at how rapidly the morning has rushed by. I pile everything back onto my body and glide down the hallway to the classroom, taking a deep breath before opening the door and stepping in. As usual, the roar of “MISS ABBY!” is deafening, and the teacher and I quickly remind the students to stay in their seats and stay focused until I am ready to begin—a tall order for the first graders who are well aware that we are going to see whether or not their “bean buddies” have grown in their baggies since I taped them to the window two weeks before.

As the students gather eagerly on the carpet, waiting for me to finish removing the beans from the frosted glass, I look over, possibly more excited than any of them.

“Do you think we were able to grow plants in the middle of winter?”

I can see each small body shake from excitement as they ask, “Did mine grow? Did mine grow?”

I carry one student’s bag to the circle, hiding it playfully with my hands, and sit on my chair, waiting as each student simultaneously scoots closer to my feet. I explain again the process of a plant’s growth and how we had predicted that some of the dried beans and peas we had “planted” using a wet cotton ball would, at least, sprout. Shouts, laughter, and the subtle sounds of movement fill the room as I show them a plant that had not just sprouted, but had grown long, grabby roots, a strong stem, and two giant leaves.

“Miss Abby, you grew plants in the winter!”

I shake my head and look around the room, taking in every glowing face, feeling time stand still as I absorb the moment to remember forever, “You grew plants in the winter.”

After a break to reset my materials and a quick lesson with my Kindergarteners, the school day ends, dismissal begins, and the sun’s rays feel refreshing as I stroll to my car. I sink behind the steering wheel, heaving my bags into the passenger seat beside me, and wait for the heat to fill up the air around me. Rummaging through the pile of artwork my students have gifted me, portraying plants in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes, I allow my mind to flashback to every moment I have been in the school. I think about the way each student in my first grade class handled their plant with the utmost care, how my Kindergarteners proudly showed me that they had a vegetables for snack that day, and the magic of allowing my voice to be silent as the kids confidently sang the Six Plant Part song to me without any help.

My apartment is dark and quiet when I get home, but it is soon bathed in the warm, mixed light of lamps and candles. I allow the weight of my body to sink into the cushions of my couch, letting my feelings of pride for what I had accomplished and excitement for what was to come wash over me.

Excited to teach kids about healthy food? Learn how you can become a FoodCorps AmeriCorps service member like Abby at our Apply page.

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7:30am : Let’s Morning Routine

Waking up before 8:00am isn’t the norm for me in my service…don’t worry, night owls – just because school starts now doesn’t mean you have to.

I jam to the Temptations as I brush my teeth and get ready for the day.

8:00am : Supermarket Snafus

I’m trying to teach my second graders about foods that help our bodies “Go!” aka healthy carbs. It’s now January, and I’ve never brought in something totally green for us to taste test. SO, I decided that this week we would make a gorgeously green pesto pasta. Yesterday, I called every supermarket in the county searching for fresh basil, and only one told me that they had it in stock. The recent snow is not helping.

Here’s the thing: I walk into produce section and realize that the fresh basil that is supposedly here is actually lightly dried basil. In other words, it won’t work for my pesto in T-2 hours.

8:15am : Think Quick!

Now I’m furiously googling potential ideas on my phone. I could stick to pasta, but I don’t want to muddle the content of the lesson on healthy carbs with vegetables or different sauces.

9:00am: I’m back in the car, and we PIVOT.

Cue the mild panic. I have no ingredients (indecision got the best of me), and I’m teaching in T-1 hour. As I drive the 20 minutes into Rocky Mount where my office at the Down East Partnership for Children is located (a great local nonprofit), I realize that I can take my class outside to learn about what happens to plants when it gets cold. It doesn’t usually snow this early in the year in North Carolina, and the students have had two snow days, so this could be especially relevant!

9:20am: Gathering the Materials to MAKE IT WORK!

In the office I gather magnifying glasses, soil thermometers, stickers, chart paper and markers. I set up some graphs and brainstorming activities for my students: “What Happens to Plants in the Cold?”

We’re going outside – post-snow – to explore. Frozen broccoli and collard plants can be so very interesting.

10:25 – Second Grade Lesson

WE LEARN! I learn that if you tell second graders to smell and feel the broccoli leaves, there’s like an 80% chance they’re also going to eat the leaves. They learn that the ground is 7 degrees cooler under the snow compared to a patch of playground where the sun has exposed the grass.

Bonus: one plastic magnifying glass broke, so I go ahead and deem this impromptu lesson a success!

11:50: Lunchtime

After I wrap up my lesson, I head back to the classroom with my 28 second graders and we get ready for lunch. I think this is the one day a week where everyone in class eats both a fruit and vegetable at lunch because they know Miss. Rhea has a few green bean boat races up her sleeve.

They have green beans with chicken tenders and I have the southwestern quinoa and spinach I meal-prepped for the week.

12:30: A Pop-Up Lesson!

After lunch I immediately head to the 1st grade hallway because I have a pop-up lesson today! This is my first time teaching in this first grade classroom: the teacher asked me to come in for an hour because her students are currently learning about the life cycle of plants! I bring in six different edible plant parts, and after a discussion on the 4 plant needs, and the 6 plant parts, the 1st graders get split into groups to figure out if broccoli is a flower and celery is a stem.

It goes really well – these kids are extra sweet because I’m new and taught them a song AND a dance.

1:45: Phew, we’re Headed Back to the Office

Baskerville Elementary is only one mile away from my office at DEPC, so I head back to get some work done. Today, that means lesson planning for next week and hopping on a call to talk about the importance of summer feeding.

DEPC is full of hugs from my coworkers (They have all become surrogate moms to me.) and laughs. (Everyone likes to laugh at – with – me.) Spending time here is relaxing and rewarding at the same time.

5:15 – It’s fun to stay at the YMCA

I organize my desk and head to the Y. Tonight there’s a great HIIT class, and I’ll need it because tomorrow morning I’m making energy balls with kindergarten, repeating the plant part lesson with another first grade class, and teaching my fourth graders about lunch tray ecology.

It’s fantastic.

Want to learn more about being a FoodCorps AmeriCorps service member?  Head over to our Apply page to get info on where you can serve , what else you’ll be doing, and how you can get involved.

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I was reminded of this again yesterday during my yoga class. My teacher opened up the class with a quote by B.K.S. Iyengar. It goes, “Practice is a dedicated, unswerving, constant, and vigilant search into a chosen subject pursued against all odds in the face of repeated failures, for indefinitely long periods of time.”

This type of work takes practice. It takes dedication, dirty fingernails, difficult conversations, and spilling egg bakes all over the oven. When you are trying to create healthier food systems, change food preferences, influence educational practices, and organize communities, you are almost certainly going to encounter failures.  Sometimes it feels like you are pursuing something against all the odds. Teachers don’t have time to add anything more to their schedules. There is no funding available for extra things. Processed food is cheaper and more convenient. Gardens are a thing of the past and have given way to Big Ag. There’s no way kids could actually like vegetables, right?

But then, one day, you realize things are a little different. You notice small or large changes in a student, or a teacher, or a parent. An upturned nose toward a stem of asparagus slowly becomes a small, brave bite, which slowly becomes a thoughtful nod, and maybe eventually even an excited thumbs up. Just as I tell students, sometimes it takes practice to eat vegetables and eventually love them.

As it turns out, I still like it when I can see the fruits of my labor pretty quickly. One day when I was a bit frustrated with the work I was doing in a particular school, someone reminded me that we are playing The Long Game with this food-systems-community-organizing-food-education work. It’s about practice. It’s about trying again and again… Building and strengthening the movements and connections until one day, small, almost unnoticeable changes begin to occur, which might lead to big, noticeable changes. I’m kind of impatient, so I can’t wait for that day. But, in the meantime, I’ll keep practicing.

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7:45: Hop on my bike and head over to the Pecan Park Elementary School.

8:00: Sign-in at the main office. If it’s not too busy, say hello to the office staff, telling them the weather isn’t too cold to bike…if you’re from up north (they won’t believe you). Organize the materials for the day’s lessons.

8:30: Teach two kindergarten seasons lessons. We will talk about how the seasons are cyclical, so next time, I will be able to use the seasons cycle to teach a lesson on patterns.

9:30: Take a break. Check my emails and get ready for another double-header. I already know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry; this is my busiest teaching day.

10:00: Teach two 2nd grade compost lessons from Do the Rot Thing. We will talk about all of the materials that go to landfills and relate composting to recycling.

11:00: Go outside and work on the garden. I try to get out there when I think some of my kids will have recess. If they do, have a few of them come over. It’s like a free class with them and they like it SO MUCH.

12:30: Depending on how ambitious I am, I might take a working lunch and check a few more emails. If not, chill.

1:00: Go back inside and work on the follow up lesson plans.

2:30: Hop back on my wheels and head over to my service site, Cooperative Community of New West Jackson, to work on the Folk Garden’s new raised beds.

4:30 or 5:00: Take one last ride, this time to my apartment, passing by Roger or a few other kids from school playing outside…Or maybe I might just drop my stuff off and head to Fondren After 5, in Jackson’s Fondren neighborhood, for dinner, music and a little art.

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