The natural sciences will fail to capture the interest of a young person who never experiences things like the change of seasons on the trees or the observation of local wildlife. In Newark, having no place to play compounds other problems children suffer with city life, contributing to health, education, and safety issues. This void disconnects youngsters from the natural world, and likely deprives them of any interest in the sciences and awareness of the world just outside the city, the world of air, water, soil, and of wild habitats. It is referred to as a “nature deficit” and it can prevent an urban student from exploring a whole universe of educational and career-building opportunities.

A Garden in the City (01:38)

We come back to the impressive sight of the Greater Newark Conservancy’s Outdoor Learning Center and watch as students of different ages hike past the dense growth of a butterfly garden, spot dragonflies over a pond, and plant seeds in pots while standing inside a greenhouse. Educators Michelle Kovatch and Bryan Lee run hands-on environmental education programs both at the Outdoor Learning Center and in gardens they have set up at several school locations, called Living Labs. We visit a living lab on a small patch of green next to Harriet Tubman Elementary School in the Central Ward, and hear from science coordinator Sheila Hatcher about how an outdoor space facilitates hands-on learning and helps children connect textbook science to real life experience.

The Greater Newark Conservancy is pushing to develop community awareness and environmental education with its community garden programs and its educational outreach, as well as building a learning “hub” with its Outdoor Learning Center. The Conservancy focuses on transferring this expertise to teachers too, knowing that as an education “hub” it can only reach so many children in a very brief time. The key is getting science teachers more and more comfortable with implementing their own environmental science programs, and giving them the tools to do so, especially in an urban district where field trips are few and on-site labs are non-existent. Jane Califf, of Rutgers University’s Urban Education Department, talks about the success she has had bringing student-teachers to the Conservancy’s Outdoor Learning Center in order to get them well prepared for working with students in science and on field trips.

Education coordinator Michelle Kovatch works with students

Teachers and others remind us that many children in the city – from pre-K through high school – have never seen a garden, cultivated even a basic garden vegetable plant, or stood near a stream. Robin Dougherty and others talk about quality of life issues: how can residents even think about advocating for their own clean water, clean air, healthy food, when they have no concept that there are levels of quality of such things, that these basics are indeed necessary for their own survival, and that they as New Jerseyans are often closely connected to areas that provide these natural resources. Education programs are critical in this area – making concepts of the classroom come alive with hands-on environmental learning.

We see a program where the Conservancy education staff, like education coordinator Michelle Kovatch, work with high school students from the Newark Youth Leadership Project. The high schoolers are teaching pre-K kids at the Outdoor Learning Center as a first step toward exploring the idea of becoming teachers themselves. The professional training reinforces this idea that hands-on learning can also evolve into a career, one that can allow the student to break out into a new world of open space. Education can continue, as some choose to teach other younger people the values and skills they have been learning.