Counselor who started garden saying good-bye to junior high

Columbia Falls Junior High counselor Shari Johnson had an idea a few years back to start a modest garden at the school, a place where kids could get a little dirty and get a glimpse of how the world really works, instead of staring at their phones, wondering when the next like or dislike or thumbs up or nasty comment might come their way. In 2013 the first trees and plants went in.

Today, the garden hosts a thriving experimental orchard, a native plant section and several raised beds to grow vegetables.

It even has a resident kill deer, that somehow manages to nest there without getting stepped on. Johnson will retire at the end of the school year as a longtime counselor. She said things have changed since she first started 30-plus years ago.

“I think the pressures on kids have changed,” she said in an interview last week. “Social media has become a challenge.”

Now if someone wants to say something mean or mock a classmate, it’s just a few clicks away. She said she sees wounded kids at school.

Her advice is simple.

“Block ‘em,” she tells students who are being bullied on social media.

She also said that every chance she gets, she tries to encourage them to do something else rather than obsess on their phones. Go for a bike ride. Go for a walk.

“Get away, turn it off,” she said.

She advises parents to limit the time on the Internet and on the phone. And, when they can, spend time in the garden.

“I think we’ve started a culture here,” she said. “Of getting kids’ hands in the dirt.”

She said the garden teaches kids not only where food comes from, but it empowers them to create change in their lives. Growing food gives a person a small stake in the world.

Johnson knows that all too well.

“I was one of the lucky kids that got to be raised on a ranch,” she said.

She grew up in St. Ignatius where they grew much of their own food, including an apple orchard. The family still gets together and presses cider every fall. “I’ve looked forward to it every year of my life,” she said. She will pay the experience forward this year. Her

last contribution to the garden is a cider press, so kids can press their own cider each fall.

Johnson admits she’s a bit tired as her career reaches the final few weeks. But she keeps her trademark smile going.

“You can never lose your sense of humor with junior high kids,” she said.