KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — As children with disabilities grow up, it can be hard for parents to find summer programs and camps for them. One Knoxville camp is giving teens with disabilities the chance to play in their own backyard.
“These are giant mammoth sunflowers, so they’re going to produce these beautiful giant sunflower heads that will be several feet tall by the end of the season,” explained Dr. Derrick Stowell, director of education and horticultural therapy programs at the University of Tennessee Gardens.
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Gardens are places of wonder and tranquility, and Stowell wants to spread that sense of wonder to all.
“Sow to Grow is a new program that we started piloting last summer. It’s for teenagers with disabilities and it focuses on job training, building social skills and gardening. We teach our students, our participants, gardening skills and they come and learn and interact with the community in the garden,” he said.
Sow to Grow offers three weeks of fun and social engagement whilst learning gardening skills. Hands-on lessons in gardening support children’s mental health.
“One of the things we’ve found and research shows is that interacting with plants has a lot of mental health benefits, not only can it help you feel calm and relaxed, but it can also be an enriching opportunity to learn new skills that you can use both at home and at work,” Stowell said.
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These skills will allow new talent to enter the workforce.
“We’re a little bit different in that we’re not providing a job opportunity, we’re training them how to do the job, so in the future they go out and find a job in the community,” Stowell said.
This year’s camp began June 3, but there are still spaces available and scholarship opportunities. Sow to Grow is for youth ages 13 through high school seniors with a variety of disabilities.
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“One of the things we want to do is have people who are interested contact us and talk to us. [it] “We’re building an understanding through this program. We have students who use wheelchairs, we have students who are on the autism spectrum who are non-verbal. So we have a broad range of people in this program, so it’s inclusive of anyone,” Stowell said.
For more information, email Derrick Stowell at [email protected].