Chennai school uses microgreens to make a portrait of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

A drone shot of the finished art project
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

For students of Union Christian Public School, a recent project brought about a host of learnings — meticulousness, patience and trust in the process.  

For the school’s 10th anniversary, a special initiative called Sprout to Inspire, had students of classes X and XII come together to create a massive garden patch — 34 feet X 29 feet in dimensions — resembling the face of India’s former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, which was then sown with microgreens and nurtured. The unique art project was laid out on the terrace of the school building. 

“It has been 10 years since the former President passed away, and we were commemorating 10 years as well. There are many values that students can imbibe from him, while knowing about his inspirational journey,” says Nisha Anil John, principal of the school. 

Students and teachers work on the project
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Art teachers Natasha Agnelo and Kathleen Peiries, along with Mathematics teacher Samuel Don began working on this project nearly a year ago. “We started off with researching the microgreens we could use, and planted samples of more than 15 microgreens which included purple basil, fenugreek and mustard. These were planted in small patches for us to see which would work best,” says Kathleen. 

The experiments also included testing which soil and irrigation techniques work best.  Natasha says that while mustard finally was the best choice given how it grew uniformly, they worked on designing and measuring out the recycled cardboard pieces which made up the frame, in the shape of Abdul Kalam’s face. 

For Olin Joy, a Class XII student, the challenge soon gave way to excitement. “We were involved in several steps — from bringing up the soil to the terrace in small quantities, helping lay it out evenly and sowing the seeds. I feel like I now know a lot more about gardening and we were thrilled to see the final output, when the greens started to grow,” he says. With over 50 students working together guided by their teachers, Abigail Zandra, also a Class XII student says that they learnt to work well as a team, and distribute work. 

“After having learnt about Abdul Kalam a few years ago in school, many of us felt inspired by his life, and his strides in research,” Shruti Vinod, another student adds. 

The reason for picking microgreens was simple. “Microgreens were chosen given how nutrient-rich they are, and the teachers too felt that this would encourage students to grow them at home. After working on this, we are sure many more students will be confident to take up gardening and make greener spaces,” Kathleen says.