Planting positivity: Walmart volunteers help create a restorative garden

May 18—The weather may have been rainy and cold on Thursday morning, but the soggy conditions did not dampen the attitudes of roughly 35 volunteers from Walmart, who were hard at work digging, watering and planting trees, flowers and tomatoes at Freedom High School.

The volunteers came from nine stores in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe area to lend a hand in creating a new, safe place for students — a restorative garden.

Built near the Northeast Albuquerque school's front entrance, the garden was the idea of Linda Kane, a restorative practices manager with Albuquerque Public Schools Police. Kane has been working on restorative practices with students at Freedom High School since the fall.

Restorative practices are an alternative way to resolve conflicts in a school setting by having students sit and discuss their issues in a natural setting. Focused on open and honest dialogue as opposed to blame and punishment, the goal is to have students focus on their relationships and the damage they may have caused to others.

"We've been trying to do more mediation circles, restorative circles and conversations with students," Kane explained, adding that she began to brainstorm a way to create a different kind of space for students to gather that wasn't a classroom.

"We want to get them into a space that's a bit less official, something more relaxing, so they can open up more and we can help them work through any issues," she said.

With that in mind, Kane enlisted the help of her colleague at APS Police, restorative practices coordinator Lydia Williams, who has worked with Walmart volunteers on projects in the past.

"Walmart sees the importance of building relationships in our community, and when they found out that we were working (at Freedom High School), they said, 'We want to be a part of it,'" Williams said.

Along with the muscle, Walmart also donated garden tools, chairs, umbrellas, plants, trees and soil to the school, so future students can tend to the garden.

"It's really important for us to do something that would help enhance the lives of students," said Dennis Allen, Walmart area manager. "Building a restorative garden helps (students) all the way around. It'll get them engaged in helping grow the plants and vegetables, take care of the roses and create a more peaceful inner self."

As a magnet school, Freedom High's student population comes from schools across the Albuquerque Public Schools district, often seeking a smaller, more intimate learning environment. One person who understands the need for that type of experience is the school principal, Marisol Fraga, who graduated from Freedom High in 1998.

Fraga pursued a career in education, spending 10 years as a teacher and the last decade as an administrator. She's worked in numerous middle schools during her career, but she said she always wanted to go back and work at a magnet school like her alma mater. When the principal position at Freedom High opened prior to this school year, it almost seemed like fate.

"The relationships I made here are what made it special," Fraga said, "and that's why I wanted to come back and make sure there's still a feel of community."

That community feel is vital, not only to the school but also to the students. And when students watched the volunteers working on the garden Thursday morning, they stopped and spoke to Fraga about what this new space meant to them.

"There was a student who said, 'We didn't have to pay for this? They're just donating their time? They're volunteering for us?' And I said, "Yes, they're doing this for us,'" she said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "(The students) are just really grateful."

Williams and Kane are hopeful that the garden project will be the first of many. As the pair continues to work with students across Albuquerque Public Schools, they plan on creating more restorative spaces, like the one at Freedom.

"We want (students) to understand we care about them, and we want to see this happen in as many schools as possible," Kane said.