Woodlawn High School in Shreveport is growing fresh vegetables right on campus – and expecting a fruitful harvest of healthy choices for students in their new community garden. 

The garden was the brainchild of Vanessa Byrd, who has been a registered nurse in Shreveport for 20 years. Byrd is a school nurse at Woodlawn Leadership Academy. 

With approximately 1,000 students to care for, Byrd noticed the unhealthy eating habits of the students. 

That was when Byrd started to wonder how she could help and came up with the idea of a community garden.

“We had come so far away from the food cycle none of these kids really knew what healthy nutrition was. Everything they were eating was in a can, plastic package or box,” Byrd said. 

With the support of the school and her boss, Sister Sharon Rambin, who encouraged her to “dream big,” Byrd and a team were able to put together the resources to get started. “Sister Rambin told me to dream big, but in all honestly, I’m not sure she meant for me to bring in 18-wheelers and bulldozers,” Byrd said. 

Betty Cook-Jordan, principal of Woodlawn High, said the garden is a great addition to the school. “It promotes hands-on experience, student engagement, team work and goal setting, which provides quality and values to the campus and community, while allowing education,” Cook-Jordan said.

As the team planted the first vegetable gardens, an estimated 80 students were taught the basic health benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables. Pulling together resources from the community such as, Dr. Grace Peterson, nutrition agent from LSU Ag Center, and Katherine Pace, of the Louisiana 4-H Development Representative, the team was able to starting teaching the students. 

“Working side by side with the students, on a cold day in January of last year, the garden came together. We all walked away with such a feeling of accomplishment,” Byrd said.

Byrd credited the success of the garden to the support of the teachers and administration at the school.

Home Depot played an important role as well in helping fund the adventure after Byrd applied for a grant. “Home Depot is doing some amazing acts of kindness locally. They are passionate about giving back to the community,” Byrd said. 

The proposal to Home Depot was to help create a bridge between the school and the surrounding community with a community/school garden, while at the same time honoring and recognizing the sacrifices of many of the former student body who have served in the armed services. 

“Woodlawn has a storied history in the Shreveport area,” Byrd said. “The school has an active ROTC program on campus with over 300 students participating. Woodlawn has had seven former students killed in action serving our country since the opening of the school in 1960 and a greater number who have served. The vision is to construct a Veterans Memorial Community Garden and have it dedicated to the fallen soldiers.”

Home Depot not only provided the grant, but doubled the amount granted.

“With all this wonderful support, we can create a reminder to future generations of the sacrifices our men and women in uniform make every day,” Byrd said.