Recently retired teacher, Eleanor Woitowicz, was the force behind the establishment of the Mel Johnson School Gardening Project (Frontier School Division) in Wabowden in 2006. In teaching students how to grow their own food, the project has grown to inspire the residents of Wabowden and beyond by demonstrating how Aboriginal communities can contribute to and benefit from sustainability projects. What began in the school’s greenhouse soon expanded to the community with students and parents starting vegetable gardens in their own yards. In a northern community where fresh produce has to be transported at great cost, the project has taught students about healthy eating habits, food preparation and sustainability – benefits they take with them into adulthood. Now emulated by other Manitoba communities, the project has received wide-spread recognition. It has been featured on the David Suzuki Digs My Garden website and in a recent documentary entitled …And this is My Garden by Katharina Stieffenhofer. In 2009, it received the Manitoba Excellence in Sustainability Award. In 2010, Ms Woitowicz, along with Bonnie Monias and Don McCaskill of the Frontier School Division, were invited to New York to present their project to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development.
