At Opelousas Senior High, one teacher knows it can be difficult for students to spend so much time out of their usual class environment, and she's working to bridge the gap.
Tiffany Popps is an agriculture teacher who has helped the students plant and nurture an on campus garden. Her students are accustomed to visiting the garden weekly, so she wants to keep them in the loop, showing them what it's like to be there every day.
"We're going to google classroom which is totally new for an Ag teacher and I'm keeping them updated by sending them pictures and I sent them a video," says Popps.
She is sharing photos and posting update videos on YouTube for the kids. Their garden is pretty extensive, holding a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs through partnerships with Southern Ag Center and Louisiana Department of Health's Well Ahead Program.
"We have corn, tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, cucumbers, strawberries, and I added orange trees," says Popps.
Usually throughout the school year, the kids see the fruits of their labor in the cafeteria, and Ms. Popps is getting creative to make sure they don't miss out on that experience either.
"Once the corn and tomatoes produce over the summer I'm going to be bringing the produce to the students," she says.
"I also encourage them to send me pictures of their small gardens, because even if you just have the space to have a couple of plants you can still produce a lot. Its good with mental health as well because it gets you out in the fresh air and everybody feels better when they do that."
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