Tapestry of Faith: Sing to the Power: A Social Justice Program for Children Grades 4-5

Activity 1: Story - Putting Dreams into Action

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Read the story and prepare to share it with the group.
  • Read the discussion questions. Choose those that will best help the children share their interpretations of the story and relate it to their own lives.

Description of Activity

Read or tell the story to the group.

After the story, invite the group to be silent for a moment to think about the story.

Then, ask participants to recap the story in their own words. What they recall indicates what they found most meaningful or memorable.

You might say:

The story of Mark Covington and the Georgia Street Community Garden is still continuing today. They are still busy expanding the site and the gardens, and holding craft days and holiday dinners for the people of their neighborhood. What's more, they're only one example of urban gardening in Detroit, a city where people have been suffering for a long time from a lack of jobs. Because of the community gardens, more and more people dream of turning Detroit into a place that is a model of farms giving life to the inside of a big city. And they're putting those dreams into action.

Lead a discussion using these questions:

  • What personal gifts and talents do you think Mark Covington drew on in putting his dream of a community garden into action?
  • Many low-income neighborhoods may not have a grocery store where people can get healthy food right in their neighborhood. A neighborhood like this is called a "food desert." How does a city garden help solve this problem in Detroit?
  • How does the garden invite other community members to share their gifts? What are different ways people contribute to the activities of the garden?
  • Beyond fruits and vegetables, what else do you think is growing at the Georgia Street Community Garden? How do you think the garden helps individuals and the community to grow?