Established in 2022, the Erin S. Soper Memorial Fund distributes stipends to teachers who sustain thriving school gardens. Erin Sawyer Soper spent more than two decades teaching in Napa. For much of that time, she engaged her kindergarten and first grade students in the garden that she nurtured at El Centro (now Willow Magnet School).
Seven garden educators were nominated for the inaugural launch of the Erin S. Soper Award. The selection committee chose three nominees, one for each of the categories below:
- new to garden-based learning: Adrienne Boudreaux
- nurturing a school garden for at least five years: Liz Corey
- works at Willow Magnet School: Lea Ortiz
Read about each nominee and find out more about the annual award below.
Adrienne Boudreaux, Parent and Garden Coordinator at Alta Heights Elementary
After the school garden at Alta Heights became overgrown during Covid-19, Adrienne was asked to do some clean up to help her son’s kindergarten class. This motivated her to make the Gator Garden safe and accessible to children again. Although she ‘knew nothing about vegetables’ she got some lettuce and snap peas going and hosted mini-taste tests. She was so inspired by how much fun the younger students were having that she began looking for curricular connections and – incorporating them when subbing in the upper grade levels. She planted a summer garden and enlisted community support to make the garden thrive. After a year of volunteering in this capacity, Adrienne convinced the school’s parent club to support the position financially so she can work with more grade levels. She’s figuring out how to fix irrigation systems, deter pests, and handle weeds. The garden offers a sanctuary for social-emotional learning (SEL) and encourages curiosity, which she wrote about in this post. Adrienne’s keys to thriving are to bring a lot of energy and really strong collaboration.
A sunflower can do so much….It can attract pollinators like bees and provide food for humans and birds. Their big, bright flowers track the light during the day, and their tall stalks provide shade for other plants or critters below. When I think of this statement, “in a world of roses, be a sunflower,” I see it as a reminder to not strive for one set standard of beauty or perfection. To be a sunflower is to be hopeful and helpful. It means providing support and sustenance to the other people and animals in the world around you.
Adrienne Boudreaux
Canyon Oaks Garden Visit (July 2023)
Carrie (left), Adrienne (center) & Liz (right) swap stories in the Canyon Oaks Garden.
Liz Corey, Third Grade Teacher and After-school Garden Club Leader at Canyon Oaks Elementary
Liz Corey has been nurturing the garden at Canyon Oaks for more than a decade. In addition to cooking and tasting lessons with her third graders, Liz leads an afterschool garden club two days a week. She allows 25 kids to join each day, but maintains a waitlist of students who want to haul dirt, pull weeds, and harvest produce (even when it’s hard work). They take home a lot – not just lettuce, but also lessons like ‘worms don’t have eyes!’. She garners a tremendous amount of parental support because the kids are excited… even by onions (“It’s like they are the most thrilling thing they’ve ever seen in their lives!,” she says). The school garden really is not just about lettuce or onions, though. It’s about “being a little less alone” and “having more freedom” as a teacher. Winning administrative support (over three different principals) is one of Liz’s super powers, but she’d love to add some signs to her garden. And, the irrigation always needs work.
For me this phrase refers to the dedication and work that Ms. Corey has shown over the years to nurture our school garden and encourage our young learners to appreciate nature and the experience of helping plants grow. She is the sunflower that towers above the rest with her expert knowledge, her willingness to put others above herself and her enthusiasm.
Nominator for Liz Corey
Lea Ortiz, TK Teacher at Willow Magnet School
Lea has been teaching for over a decade, but only recently joined the staff at Willow. Nonetheless, she partnered all year with Erin’s first grade teaching partner, Rebecca Lacau (both pictured at left), to bring their garden vision to fruition. Together, they involved numerous parents and hosted multiple garden work days to move a dozen raised garden beds to a sunnier location, doubling their planting space and lining the beds with gopher wire. They opened the center of their garden for meeting space. The Willow garden has two key assets: a large visible fenced space and lots of storage. The garden still needs irrigation, but that doesn’t deter Lea. She sees TK as the perfect grade level for starting garden-based learning because (just like her), “they will see it through.”
The sunflower represents the positivity and life of this world. Each year, a sunflower spreads its many seeds creating both new sunflowers the following year for people to admire and giving life to animals by supplying food. The cycle continues on and on. If we as individuals plant our positivity seed by saying one kind word to someone, this seed (kind word) would grow endless happiness, hope, love, and friendships to others. The cycle would continue on and on.
Lea Ortiz
This award is open to any garden educator who gives tirelessly of themselves to sustain a school garden. For folks who may be shy to apply (i.e., self nominate), we encourage them to ask principals, co-workers, parents, or even students to nominate them. The application isn’t difficult. We ask the nominee (or nominator) to explain what “In a world full of roses, be a sunflower” means to them.
For more information, visit www.schoolgardendoctor.org.
We encourage those who were not selected in 2023 to consider reapplying in 2024. The window for nominations is from March 4 – April 4, 2024. Nominees will be contacted for an interview by the selection committee, which includes one of Erin’s family members. Awards will be announced during Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6-10, 2024) and distributed in June.
This $500 award honors Erin’s commitment to garden-based education. The funds can be used to offset the out-of-pocket costs incurred from maintaining a school garden. We encourage teachers to use this funding to enhance their professional learning or purchase curriculum or supplies for use with students. It can buy plants, seeds, or soil, but not permanent infrastructure for a school site (e.g., building materials, irrigation). Unfortunately, it also cannot pay for a substitute teacher.
Learn how to apply or donate to the Erin S. Soper Memorial Fund.
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