Inspired by Jamestown Public Schools’ all-district read from last school year, Wishtree by Katherine Applegate, Anderson has been teaching her students all about the elements of a garden — rocks, soil, plants, water, sun, and pollinators — and how each can represent a part of their lives.

“There was one line in the book that really spoke to me,” said Anderson, a 23-year veteran of the district, who has spent the last six years at Lincoln. “‘But this is real life. And real life, like a good garden, is messy.”

Rocks, for example, represent the “hard” parts of life. Soil, meanwhile, represents the “messy” parts of life, plants represent the parts of life that grow.

Each element has corresponding books, both fiction and non-fiction that Anderson reads to the class. The students then have the chance to illustrate “hard”, “messy”, “growing”, “caring” , “shining” and “sharing” parts in their life.

Molly Anderson preps fiction and non-fiction stories as part of her “Garden of Life” unit.

“This gives them the opportunity to tell us what their illustration is in their life.” Anderson said. “It’s incredible to see what they come up with.”

With the building returning to more normal operations since the COVID-19 pandemic, the exercise has proven to be an important social and emotional learning piece for students at the kindergarten age to learn about the importance of handling adversity and treating others with respect.

“I took that one message and I built the whole garden,” Anderson said. “So often, at this age, they don’t know how to share — they don’t know how to deal with something that’s hard.”

Anderson said the impact on these younger learners has been evident.

“They’ll come to me and I’ll say, ‘Is that a hard part or a messy part?’ she said. “And constantly I’ll remind them, ‘Are you sharing anything with your friends? Are you sprinkling a little love like we sprinkle water on our garden?'”

“It’s come to fruition the way I hoped it would,” she concluded. “These kids are so creative.”