Sep 29, 20212 min read

Never underestimate the power of a seed...

In March of 2019 I set up a booth at the New Jersey Montessori Association Corporation(NJMAC) conference. This was my first experience at spreading seeds in a convention environment (scroll down for a pic). I have always been a big supporter of the Montessori community, as I feel extremely connected to their child-centered education philosophy.

Fast forward to this summer when an email popped up in my inbox from Faatimah, an exceptional educator that I met NJMAC. This was a seed I had planted years ago and now it was sprouting! Faatimah has been reading my book to her students since that convention and she has incorporated The You Are a Gardener® vocabulary and mindset in her classroom. To bring the program full circle she signed up her students for a #PullYourWeeds® Workshop!

“My students absolutely loved Gardener Shanna’s You Are a Gardener workshop. Gardener Shanna has such amazing positive energy and a beautiful message of hope for young people. The students learned a few ways to overcome negative emotions (pull their weeds) and most importantly the most important tool of sharing their challenging emotions with someone they trust. They also loved the origami activity and can’t wait for another visit. Thank you Gardener Shanna for everything you are doing for people of all ages.”

Last week I had the greatest pleasure of visiting Faatimah's class of 4th & 5th Graders at the Miftaahul Uloom Academy in Union City, NJ. This was my first time back in classroom since March of 2020 and this group of students were some of the most enthusiastic, energetic, kind and welcoming kids that I have ever worked with... a true reflection at how passionate their teacher is! We ended the workshop with one of our favorite 'gardening tools'-origami foxes!