Eco Reps, Callier Kids Partner to Spruce Up Garden

04.29.2019

Speech-language pathology and audiology sophomore Julia LaFond, a McDermott Scholar, demonstrates how to plant different types of herbs and veggies.

UT Dallas Eco Reps recently received a helping hand with planting flowers, herbs and vegetables from children in the Preschool Language Development Program at the Callier Center for Communication Disorders.

Children even discovered the joy of holding a few squiggly earthworms as part of the joint project.

A child with the Callier Center’s Preschool Language Development Program watches a demonstration on how to plant a flower.

The Eco Reps were planting flowers and veggies at the Blanco Botello Garden at Facilities Management, located across the street from the Callier Center’s Richardson location. So it was a natural to invite the children to participate.

Communication disorders graduate student Madison Rachel helped kids plant flowers.

Eco Reps are student workers in the Office of Sustainability who help advance sustainability issues at UT Dallas through education, outreach and project leadership.

The garden, dedicated in 2016 to honor a former Office of Facilities Management staff worker with a green thumb, is just one of the many projects headed up by Eco Reps to highlight sustainability efforts on campus. Harvested produce from the garden is set out for facilities staff to enjoy.

–Robin Russell

Psychology senior Kiara Dandridge, a McDermott Scholar, shows how to use the gardening tools to lift the soil.