Together We Grow (TWG):
Gardening for Ecological Awareness, Food Literacy, and Indigenous Wisdom Project
Who?
Three HDLC Graduate students—Sangeeta Bhonsale, Fei Fung and Eduardo Jiminez—worked with the Stride Avenue Community School (SACS) Coordinator, an Indigenous Elder and Knowledge Keeper and SACS students and their parents. This initiative was made possible through funding from a CCEL Chapman and Innovation (C&I) Grant 2025.
What?
Together We Grow (TWG) was a short term after-school program developed in partnership with the Stride Avenue Community School, Burnaby.
TWG brought together 12 students and their parents, an Indigenous Elder and knowledge keeper and educators to build food security, foster peer and community connections, and enhance overall well-being. Grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems and guided by Elder Kanatiio, participants engaged in land-based experiential learning that deepened their understanding of sustainable food practices and strengthened their connection to the Land.
When?
Grant application January 2025: Grant Application
May through September 2025: Project Implementation
Where?
- Stride Avenue Community School is located in a diverse, rapidly growing neighborhood in Burnaby. The area is characterized by high-density living, a multicultural community, with a mix of long-term residents and recent newcomers.
- Rising costs of living, low wages, and inflation exacerbate food insecurity, leading more households with children and seniors to rely on support systems such as food banks (Burnaby City Council, 2024).
Why?
- Food insecurity and low social connectivity were identified as key concerns by Stride Avenue Community School staff and Settlement Workers in Schools.
- The 2022–2023 UBC HELP Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) revealed below-average well-being scores among Grade 4 students for this region of Burnaby, specifically in 1) overall wellbeing, 2) nutrition, 3) peer relationships, and 4) access to out-of-school programs.
The identified needs highlighted an urgent need for targeted supports to foster healthier, more connected, and resilient communities.
How?
We needed substantial fundings to build a community project that could address the identified needs in a meaningful way. This led us to the UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL). CCEL supports UBC students in creating community-empowerment projects through meaningful collaboration with community partners. Given Sangeeta’s relationship with the SACS coordinator, there was an existing and expressed interest in partnering with us to develop a project that addressed the community’s needs.
Our learning journey began with applying for the Chapman and Innovation Grants through the Centre for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL), which required a detailed, well-researched, and realistic project plan. After receiving the grant, we worked closely with the SACS Coordinator and an Indigenous Elder and Knowledge Keeper to design a collaborative after-school program, Together We Grow, for newcomer children and their parents/caregivers.
The project began with building a program with and for students and their parents/caregivers which in turn created opportunities for hands on land-based experiential learning grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems guided by the Elder and Knowledge Keeper.
We designed 13 Activity workshops with lesson plans for learning about: 1) gardening and growing nutritious food; 2) Indigenous knowledge systems to deepen connection with Land and our place in the Circle of Life, led by our Indigenous Elder and Knowledge Keeper; 3) cultural sharing and storytelling; and 4) hands-on experiential learning.
Lessons We Learned
The TWG project was a deeply meaningful and fulfilling experience for us as educators. When we submitted our grant application in December 2024, we worried that our goals might be overly ambitious, especially given the complexity of the social issues we hoped to address: social isolation, food insecurity, and overall well-being. Additionally, planning lesson content for the project workshops on gardening, community building, and wellness, as well as estimating the full project budget, was also challenging. Each of us brought different strengths to the table and weaving them together took time.
However, regular communication, asking questions, sharing ideas, and collaborating closely with the School Coordinator and the Elder proved invaluable as we shaped the program’s design and structure. Throughout the process, observing, reflecting, and adjusting our teaching became our guiding mantra. We also gathered feedback through surveys and open discussions, inviting families to share what they wanted to learn, the challenges they faced in maintaining healthy eating habits, and the types of plants they were most interested in growing. Based on their input, we revised our lesson plans to better meet their needs.
While lesson plans were necessary, we quickly realized that engaging with the responsive and relational pedagogy of Indigenous knowledge, guided by our Elder, was far more important. We also had to manage our time wisely, balancing content review, garden maintenance, and relationship-building. Throughout the program, we learned to design lessons that left room for connection and flexibility, including time to revisit content and meet individual learning needs.
Communication and flexibility became two of the greatest skills we strengthened as a team. This experience taught us how to design programs that are more participant-oriented, responsive, and grounded in community voices. Another invaluable lesson we learned from working with an Indigenous Elder was that Land Acknowledgments and respect for interconnectedness are not one-time gestures but ongoing, daily practices.
Working with a diverse group of participants, varying in age, cultural background, and language proficiency to collaboratively address real-world issues also taught us that being educators requires an embodied practice rooted in authenticity, care, and reciprocity. It meant creating spaces where diversity becomes a source of creativity, where students and their families feel safe and supported, and where genuine emotional experiences can emerge. This approach demands reflexivity, relationality, and the ability to draw on and build from people’s funds of knowledge, along with a deep awareness of our own biases and assumptions. Only within such relational, grounded spaces can true learning and development flourish for everyone.
Please find our final report on the CCEL website.