Key School volunteers Kanani Mahelona and Amanda Dickson struck up a conversation one day about how they could take their service to the next level.
Mahelona suggested a garden because he knew firsthand how beneficial it would be for neurodiverse children, whom Key School serves. During the pandemic, he planted a garden at home for his grandson and saw it light the boy up.
Dickson, whose daughter attends the school, hesitated. She was by no means a green thumb. But the idea took root — especially the possibility of growing native plants to attract pollinators.
The plan was realized as a lush green space where the private school students build confidence, practice self-regulation and connect with nature alongside classmates and community volunteers.
“There’s just something about being outdoors together and building something together,” Mahelona said.
Mahelona’s and Dickson’s work creating a garden and teaching students how to tend it earned them recognition in 52 Faces of Community, Fort Worth Report’s weekly series highlighting unsung heroes.
Dickson doesn’t want or need recognition — she sees her work as a necessary part of being a parent. She’s involved at both her kids’ schools, she said.
“It’s just important to give back to the schools and what they’re doing for my kids,” she said.
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Starting a vegetable garden was a natural extension of giving back for both Dickson and Mahelona. Four years ago, they started growing vegetables. Now, the space has grown to include a pollinator-friendly native landscape and flowers.
The kids immediately latched onto the idea of getting into the dirt, planting seeds and picking vegetables weeks later.
Harvest day is special, Mahelona said. Students pluck tomatoes and rip leafy greens out of the garden. The kids wash the veggies. Then an adult chops what’s been freshly picked into a salad.
Volunteer Amanda Dickson harvests a cabbage from a planter on Jan. 7 in the Key School garden in Fort Worth. (Courtesy | Key School)
Students get so excited, Dickson said.
“Some of them will try things that they might not try if you serve it to them at home from a bag or in a restaurant,” Dickson said. “They’re like, ‘I grew this.’”
Well, most of them. Some scrunch up their faces — a sign they don’t want to try the vegetables. But that’s OK, she said. They’ll take the veggies home to their parents.
Mahelona loves seeing students getting out of the classroom — and away from technology.
“The impact has been so powerful that it has inspired us to expand our outdoor learning opportunities.”
Leslie Vasquez, Key School’s director of education
“I really want the kids to get an appreciation for the outdoors, for fresh air and sunshine,” he said. “I want them to really learn to take care of and protect their environment and to understand their own health depends on the health of the environment in which they live.”
Getting kids in nature is key to good mental health, Dickson said. Feeling peace in the garden after a rough day or when agitated is soothing for students — even when getting outside is mandatory for a class.
“I hope it’s a place where they can have fun, learn and find ways to self-regulate in nature,” she said. “Those mental health aspects are huge, especially for our kids who sometimes have trouble with their systems being overloaded with stimulation.”
Volunteer Amanda Dickson shows students how to pat down soil in a planter on Sept. 21, 2023, in the Key School garden in Fort Worth. (Courtesy | Key School)
Leslie Vasquez, the school’s director of education, said Mahelona and Dickson have grown gardening with six students into a thriving club featuring a cross-section of students, teachers and community members.
“For many of our students, especially those with learning differences, the garden offers a space to build confidence, practice patience, and develop a deeper sense of ownership and accomplishment,” she said. “The impact has been so powerful that it has inspired us to expand our outdoor learning opportunities.”
The school is creating a dedicated outdoor classroom for even more learning opportunities, Vasquez said.
Mahelona sees his service as paying it forward to a school that has transformed kids who once struggled into students who love education.
“We feel like we’ll never ever be able to repay the debt that we have to this school for the progress that we see in our own children,” he said.
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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