From May through August, administrative staff in the Satoko Shibata Clinical Nursing Laboratories and in the Nursing Student Affairs Office participated in 91社区鈥檚 Staff Community Gardens project, located on the main downtown campus next to Burnside Hall.
鈥淭his was a great opportunity for our administrative lab team to get outside during the summer months as part of our weekly meetings,鈥� recalls Megan Magisano, Standardized Patient Educator and Lab Manager. Megan, who had never gardened before, saw this as an opportunity to learn from her colleagues, many of whom are avid gardeners. The team planted tomatoes, string beans, basil, oregano, nasturtium and marigolds.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of our little garden. It managed to withstand the challenges of pests, a very rainy spring, a heat wave and a few big storms, and still produced little harvests for us to enjoy each week. This has been a great opportunity to see my colleagues in a new light,鈥� says Standardized Patient Trainer Chloe Giddings. Course Technician Augusto Cuellar Diaz agrees, adding,鈥淚 love nature and it鈥檚 beautiful to see life growing and developing from the beginning.鈥�
For Nursing Student Affairs Coordinators Mary Argyrakis, Shauna Adam, and Kristi Kouchakji, collaborating on creating a garden was a great way to foster team spirit while having fun. Reflecting on the experience, Mary notes, 鈥淚 also love that it allowed us to socialize with other 91社区 employees and learn more about gardening.鈥� Although they dealt with challenges involving bad weather and pests, their flowers, including marigolds and zinnias, proved to be hardy, and the team already has ideas about what to plant next year. 鈥淪eeing the lovely results was gratifying and beautifying the campus was a bonus,鈥� concludes Mary.