Empowerment grows from N.Y. horticulture class
By Elyse Andrews, USA TODAY

ROMULUS, N.Y. -- Part of an occasional series on members of the 2005 All-USA Teacher Team, USA TODAY's recognition program for outstanding K-12 teachers. Winners share $2,500 awards with their schools. 



The shelves of Vincent Lalli's classroom at Hillside Children's Center are lined with birds' nests, painted flower pots and pumpkins. Right outside is a large herb garden that Lalli tends with his students. Next to the garden is the plant stand where students sell the flowers and vegetables they have grown. 



None of this was here before Lalli arrived five years ago at this 185-acre deserted Army base in upstate New York. Lalli, who had founded a program using horticulture intergenerational learning as therapy while earning a master's degree at Cornell, was asked to start a horticulture program at the new residential treatment facility for troubled children. 



Upstate New York is home to a large number of farms, and this abundance of agriculture influences the students at Hillside to see agriculture and horticulture as viable job options, says Hillside counselor Steve Goldberg. 



The horticulture program intertwines academics and vocational education with the center's therapeutic goals. Lalli has transformed not only the campus, but also his students' lives. Hillside is home to children ages 12 to 18 who need residential care. Many have faced physical and emotional abuse or dealt with personal or family drug problems. The center offers mental health, youth development, developmental disability, juvenile justice and special education services. 



"This is where the real story is," Lalli says, gesturing to students sitting at a large table. "They have this desire to nurture. They want to grow things." 


While teaching academic and vocational skills, the horticulture program develops students' character. Many come from dysfunctional families and have not learned to work with others or have healthy relationships. 



"They do trust me," Lalli says. "They believe that I trust them. They respect this classroom. I like the kids to get the independence and self-esteem they need. (They are) ready to blossom in their life." 



Lalli teaches all the middle school students in classes of about eight students each and does projects with the high school students. He doesn't lecture the class but sits at the table with his students while they plan activities and talk together. Activities include designing selling their plants at a local farmers' market, doing internships and making presentations at other schools. 



"Vince really struck me as someone who cares genuinely," Goldberg says. "Vince empowers these children to believe in themselves. He doesn't raise his voice. When the kids leave the room, they're excited." 



Lalli builds his students' sense of independence and confidence by letting them plan activities for the intergenerational program he runs with The Homestead, a local nursing home. One recent fall day at Hillside, when the nursing home residents were visiting, the students and residents picked herbs from the students' garden to make fresh tea, painted faces on pumpkins and transferred plants into pots the students had painted. 


"It's been a very positive program, both for the students and the residents," says Gail Cosler, Homestead activities coordinator. "The interaction they have with the residents is amazing." The Homestead residents provide adult role models for the Hillside students, many of whom have gone their whole lives without having an adult to look up to. 



"The residents are like jewels in a treasure chest that hasn't been opened in a long time," Lalli says. "(Now they have) opportunities to use these gifts again." 



In addition to residents going to Hillside, students also go to The Homestead. There, students tend a garden they planted with the residents and eat lunch with them. 



"The garden is a connector. It's like a little hub," Lalli says. 



One reason why Lalli is so successful is that he nurtures students like he nurtures plants, treating each one individually and with care, Goldberg says. Lalli is very connected to the earth and nature, and he takes the connection full circle, he adds. 



"We bring children in, and they may be damaged or wilted, and we nurture them and bring them back into the community," Goldberg says. "These kids are so mistrusting, but in Vince's class, it's all erased."

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