Interview with Ms.Lewis

Interview with Ms. Rae Lewis, House parent + Alum of the Leelanau school.

 ·         Ms. Lewis

1      Why are you interested on this project we are doing?

“Because growing food is one of the most important things in the world, and I think it’s important to teach kids.  We have a beautiful space that we can use.  Not everyone is lucky enough to have such a beautiful greenhouse and all the resources we have including our community and all the volunteers of making this happen.  It is important for everyone to take steps towards sustainability, because we have the power to change the world.”

2      What ideas do you have to improve this project?

               (Rea)  I think there are always things we can be doing to improve, like collecting water,             and studying different types of soils, and different kinds of composting.

3    How do you think this will help us as a community?

I think it will help inspire a cultural shift in our community.  One that involves us with a more direct approach to knowing were our foods come from and the process involved of getting it to the table. It gives our community more access to healthier truly local food.  It will be a great foundation for future learning projects for all students

4      Have you ever had this type of experience before?

I have never had the opportunity to work with students and plants at the same time; I spent my last summer working on a small organic farm that was a CSA (community supported agriculture farm) and sold to local stores and restaurants.  The experience was tough and wonderful and I learned a lot.  I am inspired to continue growing food for the rest of my life. Another one of my dreams was to return and work at the Leelanau School after the four years I enjoyed attending high school here. The opportunity presented itself to work at the school once the growing season was over.  Luckily the new job came with a greenhouse and bunch of lovely student.  Therefore the project sort of made its self, as I was able to bring my two passions together.

5      (if not) What made you want to do it?
      How long have you been working in gardens?

I’ve only been doing a personal garden for about three years, and it was always small.  I grew herbs, tomatoes, lettuce, peepers, squash, and all kinds of stuff.

7     Did you grow up around gardens or farms?

My mother had pretty nice gardens; she used to work with her. 

      Do you have any goals with the green house for the future?

To maximize production and the space that we have, I hope to produce as much food for the school as we can.  I hope to have a continual space for students to always be learning about the process of growing foods.  It would be nice for the school to eventually have a school garden.

     What types of vegetables are you interested in growing?

Any kind I can get my hand on.  And then I want to find fun ways to eat them that I haven’t heard of.

.  What do you look forward to in as this project continues?

Everything, growing food is such a fun and potentially unpredictable process that I know we will learn a lot along the way.