By Joëlle Walls
Published in GoSTEAM's A Program in Review 2018-2024
Artist, business owner, and gardener Jazmine McBride served as a first-time innovator-in-residence at Tuskegee Airmen Global Academy this past year. She worked with kindergarten students on creating a healthy garden and taught second-grade students about the benefits of community green spaces.
“I believe it’s important to have innovators on site for teachers, who don’t have time to activate innovative technologies in their own classrooms, ensuring children experience an impactful learning environment,” McBride said. “Working with those two grade levels was an absolute joy. Their enthusiasm and curiosity were truly inspiring.”
One of McBride’s memorable experiences with the kindergarteners was teaching them vocabulary words such as biodiversity, photosynthesis, nutrition, decomposers, and compost. “It had been a while since I taught them all these words. It was probably after spring break, and I reviewed some of the words like biodiversity, writing it on the board. They recalled the word with ease, which made me so proud,” she said. “Witnessing children at that age grasping such complex terms, and some even understanding photosynthesis, was truly remarkable.”
Kindergarten teacher Aisha Bryant said that McBride was very popular with her students and hit the ground running, focusing on how they could use shapes, art, and music to create a school garden of vegetables and herbs. “GoSTEAM has been extremely beneficial in student engagement. Being able to incorporate STEAM into all subjects gives students a hands-on personal experience when learning,” she said. “I have witnessed many students understanding a topic more through an art form. They are excited to share their creative process.”
For the green spaces project, second-grade teacher Michelle Denson led her students on a community tour, showcasing homes with gardens, flowers and trees, as well as abandoned homes for comparison. They also visited two different grocery stores to learn about the prices and differences in fruits and vegetables at each location. Denson described McBride as an invaluable addition to the classroom during that time, particularly since she was the general education teacher.
“GoSTEAM is essential for teachers to ensure STEM is incorporated into their activities, as STEM is becoming increasingly significant in our students’ future career opportunities,” Denson said. “With arts integration, students can be innovative and creative, think outside the box, enhance their work, and become problem-solvers.”
In her role, McBride introduced the students to landscape design, which led to the creation of mobile green spaces. They planted microgreens on raised grow beds with wheels and a trellis, providing a thriving environment for their class pet, Sweetie the sweet potato.
“I guided the students through the design process, which included building models of their envisioned garden beds,” McBride explained. “I encouraged them to think critically about why we would grow certain plants in specific locations. My goal was for them to understand how different seeds grow, what is edible, and the importance of pollinators versus non-pollinators, especially considering students with bee allergies. This activity was important for fostering inventiveness and resourcefulness.”
