Cultivating a Kid Victory Garden
I chose the name Victory Garden Kids for a specific reason.
When I created the name for VGK, I was sitting in a ski lodge in Tahoe that offered "PE" ski lessons to homeschooled kids. I had been particularly distracted with ideas swirling around in my head on the two-hour drive up to the lodge that early morning, though the kids didn't notice. They were pretending to be asleep so they could avoid the math lessons I'd packed for them to do on the way up. That was a pretty typical chess move on their parts; the other was to suddenly feel car sick and not be able to look at the books. But that particular morning, I didn't use my stern "I mean it" voice to prod them into action. Their fake snores were providing a peaceful backdrop for my thoughts.
Our mission for our business is a simple one: serve students where they reside emotionally/academically to help them thrive and grow because they feel powerful and capable as learners. Picking a name for that kind of enterprise is a serious endeavor. I needed a name that would give kids confidence above all else; I wanted my students to feel so comfortable in their learning environment that they could rest from the academic struggles they were weighed down by daily and convert their concerns into confidence, and I needed a name that would reflect that intention.
I was adamant about using the word Victory and this word came to me immediately and easily in my very first name brainstorm. There is no other word that encapsulates the mission of what I want kids to feel about their academic capabilities. It’s a beautiful word that holds the complete vision within its seven letters.
I started doodling to try and coax my creativity. The problem with my doodling is that I am horrible at drawing. Oops, sorry students, I broke my own rule--I am capable of any drawing I wish to create and have an opportunity RIGHT NOW to work on it and improve! Anyway, I started drawing the only thing I know how to draw: flowers. I wrote the word VICTORY in all caps with flowers and leaves sprouting off of each letter.
I sat in that ski lodge for what seemed like infinity, drawing flowers and vines and a kite because kites are easy to draw (and easy to teach geometry with). Just when my greenery doodles were about to hit jungle-level, my beloveds walked in to ask for their chili dog lunch money. Lunchtime already? Didn’t we just have breakfast in the car? I was in the middle of a life-changing, company-growing braindump and hadn’t realized that time had passed so quickly. Hannah, in her cute little purple and green ski jacket that I had chosen so I could see her from the highest peak of any mountain, clomped over to the table in her ski boots, cheeks aglow with energy. "I like your garden, Mommy." Victory Garden Kids. Sunshine-Sparkling-On-The-White-Snow-Lightbulb-Moment. That flower/meadow/kite artwork became the literal header for our first website.
My darlings resumed their Olympic training after filling their bellies, and I googled Victory Garden Kids to see if any other persons had already snagged my dream. Pages and pages of slogans and vintage advertisements for WWII Victory Gardens appeared before my eyes.
During WWII, families did their part in the war effort by planting their own food. They fed their families, and they fed their communities. The fruits of their labors spread exponentially. They called their crops Victory Gardens.
At first I was bummed. I thought it was a no-go. But then I saw a slogan and instructions for growing a Victory Garden that meant everything to me:
"Sew the Seeds of VICTORY"
According to the vintage ads, there are three steps to planting a Victory Garden:
1. prepare the soil
2. water the seeds
3. fertilize the crop
My mind became completely and forever connected to this name, because here is what I know: I know that good fertilizer grows healthier crops. I know that dry plants wither, but plants that are watered are strong. I know that confident kids put their magic into the world that they are inheriting. I call it the "begets" mindset. Confidence begets confidence, joy begets joy, worry begets worry, fear begets fear. What we give our kids is what they will feel. If we teach our kids that they are capable of learning, they will be fruitful and share that brilliance with the world. Even if it’s academically difficult, they will feel capable of learning. They may not ace every exam, they may struggle with concepts. But if a child feels capable of it, they’ve already succeeded.
In this time of uncertainty and divisive conditions, actual victory gardens are making a comeback. I walked by my neighbor planting vegetables in her front garden the other day. I commented to her that she was going to be able to feed the whole neighborhood soon. She said back to me, "Yes, that's what I want to be able to do. I'm planting a victory garden." My neighbor is victorious in her endeavor to support others just by planting seeds.
Our children are victorious just by being present in the world. They are seeds ready to sprout colossal vines of expertise to then help others swing across Amazonian-sized rivers of need after their own battles have been conquered. And in this pandemic, where our children are now being schooled by their parents, and families are uncertain about how kids are going to get back to “normal” in the classroom when fall arrives, we all need to plant seeds now that will bear fruit when the time comes to help feed each other.
To carve pumpkins in the fall, we need to plant tiny, baby pumpkin seeds in the spring. And those tiny, baby seeds came from a previous pumpkin. Be the pumpkin. Be the fruit. We all need to do our part in this effort to help children feel empowered and secure and confident in our current world. We don’t know whether our kids will be able to sit at a desk in a classroom in the fall, or whether they will be logging on at their education station at home. Either way, prepare them. No matter what, uplift them.
March through June has not been a “snow day”, where we simply are not going to school and work because of inclement weather, though many of us have used it as such. Many have taken some time to simultaneously reflect, ponder, stress, grow, flail directionless, soar to new heights, judge many without knowing the facts, not be discerning enough with others' hearts and strong beliefs, create tension, divert conflict, gain weight from stress-eating, lose weight from stress-meal-skipping (not me), divert our eyes from what we have a moral obligation to experience, or over-saturate in too much empty space-filler. Does this resonate with anyone, the A-to-Z-zero-to-one-hundred-then-back-to-zero-COVID-syndrome? I feel like one minute I’m going to wake up at 5am and exercise until my legs fall off, then the next day all I want to do is drink hot tea (or many glasses of something a bit stronger) and hide under a blanket.
Hey, Team Human! We can’t do this forever! It’s time to embrace what is real. And reality is that we can’t wait for things “to get back to normal”. I don’t even like the phrase “finding the new normal”. We need to build a completely brand new foundation and create stability and confidence for our kids. No normal. Just new and now.
Whatever the fall holds academically for our kids, let it not matter what desk or screen or platform they are learning from. As an educator, I am focusing on my original directive when I created Victory Garden Kids all those years ago—to create an environment where students feel so comfortable that they can focus on the fact that they are capable of learning, not just focusing on what they’re learning or where they’re learning from or not learning from. I’m working to re-cultivate my begets rule: Confidence begets confidence, joy begets joy, worry begets worry, fear begets fear. What we give our kids is what they will feel. If we teach our kids that they are capable, they will be fruitful and share that brilliance with the world.
Let’s just ensure we are providing soil for healthy little seeds to sprout in. Starting right now, let’s cultivate Awesome Human Victory Gardens. There are new ideals to nurture in this world so we are cultivating conductors of energy that eliminate division. There are much needed bridges to be built and we need engineers for that bridge building to come from our homes, our “classrooms”, and our hearts. Those are the areas that need to be focused upon, not where the students’ desks will be located. If we teach our kids to find ways to span these canyons with their hearts in the right place, who cares where their desks are. Our kids are the victors that will change the world.