Ms. Chahda Took Over The Garden And You Won’t Believe What Her Dad Did!

A trip to the National Botanical Gardens in Washington, DC. with Rita Chahda-Gonzalez is a lesson in sustainability, and in medicinal and edible plants. The earth's bounty has been a passion for her since growing up on her family’s working olive and fruit tree farm in Bsarsar, Syria. (Bsarsar means, “house that sits on the mountain.”) Rita has fond memories of working with her grandfather picking figs and her grandmother helping to care for the farm animals. So, when Amy Miller, who had supervised the spot for the last seven years, since its inception, was ready to turn over the job of organizing the plot volunteers, she knew that Rita was a natural fit. This spring Rita took over supervision of the Lakewood Teachers Association's Adopt-A-Spot, located in front the of the bandstand in Lakewood Park.

Before planting season was in full swing the LTA Adopt-A-Spot got a boost from the city with an upgrade to the retaining wall and paver stones on the walkway surrounding the bandstand. Rita plans to continue the upgrades by making the garden plot more sustainable. Along with other Lakewood teacher volunteers, she removed some older plants and replaced them with perennials that grow naturally in this area and climate, and others that will attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

Rita is in her 10th year of teaching high school science at Lakewood High School. Teaching is her second career. She started in the sciences as a Med Tech and translator for the Cleveland Clinic. Like taking on the gardening duties, teaching at Lakewood High School was a natural transition. Rita is fluent and literate in both Spanish and Arabic. This combined with her love for science and a focus on helping struggling learners made her a valuable addition to both the science department and the Teaching and Learning Center tutoring room, an alternative to study hall where teachers help to tutor students with their classwork. TLC is an essential link to success for many of our English Language Learners.

The family affair of caring for our Earth and engaging young people has come full circle, and around the globe. Rita's father is visiting from Syria this summer. During the first week of July, when Rita was in Washington DC attending the National Education Association's Convention, the weather turned warm. Massout Chahda was unaware that his daughter had created a schedule of 10 other teachers with a rotating list of duties to care for the garden. He was concerned about the heat and the need to water while Rita was away, so he enlisted Rita's nieces and nephews to go to the garden to check on it! We can see where Rita gets her passion and dedication.

Rest assured, the garden is doing beautifully. If you haven’t seen it, stop by the bandstand at Lakewood Park. Things are starting to bloom!