How a School Garden is Transforming STEM Learning in Keur Soce

The construction of Keur Soce High School stands as one of Andando’s greatest achievements. Before this school existed, students faced a difficult choice: move to a distant city to continue their education or see their academic journey end prematurely. Today, nearly 1,000 students per year have the opportunity to continue learning close to home, contributing to Senegal’s national goal of “Access for All” in education.

Madame Marone teaching Geography and French to the freshman and sophomore classes at the new Keur Soce High School.

But access is only the first step, the quality of education is equally important. This year, Keur Soce High School’s faculty, in partnership with Andando, took a bold step forward by establishing a STEM teaching garden, designed to give students hands-on learning experiences that deepen their understanding of science, business, and leadership.

Keur Soce Schools Leadership along with Andando field staff determining the best location for the STEM teaching garden (January 2023).

Early construction on the integrated aquaculture basins, part of the STEM Teaching Garden at Keur Soce High School (May 2023).

A perennial challenge for schools around the world is finding practical, real-world teaching resources that connect classroom lessons to the environments where students live and learn. It turns out that a garden is the perfect teaching tool; it allows students to observe natural sciences in action, apply accounting and business principles, and develop leadership skills through managing production and collaborating with classmates. With this vision in mind, Andando secured funding from the International Foundation to make Keur Soce High School Garden a reality.

“Before, students had to rely on lectures and textbooks alone to understand science concepts. Now, they step into the garden and see the process firsthand. They watch as a seed germinates, observe how the soil interacts with roots, and connect theory to reality in a way that makes learning stick.”

— Mr Toure, Math and Science Teacher at Keur Soce High School

Recognizing the challenge of managing a new pilot project, we assigned one of our most skilled horticultural technicians, Seynabou Ndao, to oversee the project. Seynabou holds a degree in Physics and Chemistry from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar and is not only an expert in the field but also a role model for students, especially young women, who may not have considered agriculture as a path to success.

“At first, many students thought agriculture was something for people without other options. But now, they see it differently. They’ve learned how scientific it is, how much potential it holds for business, and how they can build careers in it.”

— Seynabou, Andando Garden Technician

This happy student gives the STEM teaching garden a big thumbs up!

Both faculty and Andando staff wanted to make this garden a cutting-edge resource for students, so we decided to go beyond just a basic school garden and integrate aquaculture production into the design. Fish farming is a growing industry in Senegal, offering significant economic potential for those with the technical skills to succeed. Adding fish production was no easy task, but the effort has paid off—today, Keur Soce High School stands as the only high school in Senegal with an aquaculture training program, giving students a unique advantage and a pathway to opportunity.

Students receive hands-on training to learn the challenging skill of raising fish in the desert. Not only do these lessons cement topics such as science and biology into their learning, but they also provide practical skills, giving these students a unique advantage and pathway to career opportunities.

The new University of Sine Saloum El Hadj Ibrahima Niasse in the regional capital specializes in agriculture, and we are confident that students from Keur Soce will now be better prepared for admission and future careers in this growing field.

Surrounded by sand and dust, the Keur Soce High School STEM Teaching Garden is a lush oasis, full of life. In addition to being a vital teaching resource, the garden also serves as a source of revenue for the school.

From seed to harvest, students learn the life cycle of plants while also benefiting from the nutritious produce they grow in the garden. This student is proudly showing one of many cabbages harvested this day in the teaching garden.

Launching a new school garden with almost 1,000 students participating was a monumental undertaking, but by the end of the first year the results are already incredible. Students and faculty now regularly hold a local farmers market which sells fresh organic produce and fish grown right there on campus. In a demonstration of the incredible productivity of the garden, the school recently hosted a lunch using only ingredients grown and harvested in their own garden.

Farm-to-table: this delicious traditional Senegalese meal features produce and fish grown in the Keur Soce High School STEM Teaching Garden.

Sharing the bounty: students, teachers, and Andando field staff celebrate the first of many successful harvests with a shared meal using only ingredients grown in the school garden.

Farm-to-table at a high school? That would be impressive anywhere in the world—but in a rural Senegalese school where students and faculty face so many challenges, it’s extraordinary.

Profits from sales are being set aside for a committee of faculty, parents, and students to decide how best to reinvest the funds to improve the school while ensuring the garden’s sustainability. However, the school has already made its first investment: a new scholarship program. Students who demonstrate exceptional leadership in the garden will have their school fees fully covered the next year; a powerful reward that recognizes their hard work and invests in their future.

Some of the nearly 1,000 students participating in the STEM Teaching Garden at Keur Soce High School.

With this incredible first year completed, Keur Soce High School Garden is now a permanent fixture of the school, and it will only grow stronger and more productive in the years ahead. Andando is now refining this model with the hope of expanding to other schools in the future, bringing hands-on education and economic opportunities to even more students. We are so proud of everyone involved in this project and what they have achieved for themselves and the educational possibilities in Senegal.

Education: The Foundation of Progress

Andando staff with faculty from the school and the mayor of Ndiédieng (center in white).

We are proud to announce a new partnership with Ndiédieng Primary School, thanks to the generosity of our supporters during the year-end giving campaign. Aid for schools, whether through school supplies, additional classrooms, or bathroom facilities, is one of the most frequent requests Andando receives. And we listen. Because we know that investing in education is one of the most surefire ways to foster long-term, intergenerational change.

Classrooms, dating back to Senegal’s colonial period, are often in an unsafe state of disrepair leading to overcrowding in newer classrooms.

Over 600 students attend this school in overcrowded, crumbling classrooms without functional bathrooms. Together, we’ll build two new classrooms, new bathrooms for girls and boys, and drinking water taps so that students have the best chance possible to continue their education and build the lives that they want for themselves.

The Keur Socé High School Garden is a vital teaching resource and source of revenue for the school.

Over the past 15 years, Andando has partnered with 20 schools that support more than 7,000 students annually. These investments, combined with Andando’s other intervention areas, are creating a powerful feedback loop of socio-economic improvements. As families experience better food security, health care, and financial stability, more children are staying in school longer, reaching middle and high school levels, which is driving an even greater demand for educational infrastructure.

This ripple effect is especially visible in Podor, where the success of Andando’s interventions has contributed to an urgent need for a new high school. To address this demand, the education ministry began offering high school classes at Guédé Village Middle School, but without adding new classrooms. The school, together with the mayor and a local parents’ group, has asked us to build eight new classrooms, renovate their bathrooms, and add a school garden.

Students at Guédé Village High School share classrooms with the middle school, limiting enrollment while more students want to come each year.

This is just one of numerous school projects that we hope to add in the coming years to continue to respond to the incredible investment that our partners and their children are making in their future.

Update from the Field

I have just returned from Senegal and there is far too much good news to wait for the next newsletter!  We were fortunate to have good weather during the trip, not a guarantee in the rainy season, so we were able to see most of the new projects that we’re working on and how they’re coming together.  This is just a quick overview so stay tuned for more in-depth information soon on all of these amazing projects!

Garrison and Gorgui standing with our new deep borehole well in the desert.

In the Keur Soce area work is nearly complete on our first ever school garden at Keur Soce High School.  The fence, basins, and storehouse are done, leaving only the water connection to our nearby Thiako garden whose members are generously contributing their water to the school.  We are so excited that this will be the first high school in all of Senegal with an integrated aquaculture training program!  Work should be completed here by the end of the month, and we will share more pictures when classes start in October and garden activities begin.

The completed garden storehouse stands in front of the beautiful Keur Soce High School classrooms.

A fish basin inside Keur Soce High School Garden with Mandaw, Garden Program Manager.

Watering basins will be connected to the aquaculture system so that nutrient rich fish water can be used to water crops in the garden.

Renovations begin at Mbadhiou Peulh Primary School.

Also in Keur Soce we got to see the beginning of renovations of three classrooms at Mbadhiou Peulh Primary School.  The local municipal government is constructing two new classrooms here this year but didn’t have the means to upgrade the existing classroom building which has a leaking roof and cracked walls. So at the request of the village Andando stepped in to renovate the current classrooms so that all students will have a safe and proper learning environment for years to come.  We will also be adding a new block of latrines hare as well this fall!

Students from Mbadhiou Peulh Primary School in one of the classrooms that is now being renovated.

Adjacent to the existing classrooms is a temporary classroom where some students have to study in difficult conditions.

Due to the collaboration between the community and Andando all students will now study in proper safe and secure classrooms.

Madame Sekk, the head nurse of the regional hospital, facilitates a community meetings in the village of Bida in preparation to start construction on a new health post there.

In Podor we finished the selection process for our next health post which will be built in the rural community of Mbida.  This village is dedicated to community health with several healthcare workers already operating a seasonal clinic here out of temporary structures which must be rebuilt each year.  We are proud to be working with such dedicated partners and can’t wait to see the impact that a proper health post will have on their ability to care for their community. We will share more about the incredible story of this village when we start construction here in November.

A boy from Togane stands with the papaya tree he helped plant this spring.

We are also nearly finished with construction on our new tree nursery and agroforestry center in Podor.  Our borehole well drilling was a complete success, and we now have a high output water source with a solar well pump system which will enable us to produce a minimum of 50,000 beneficial native trees here each year.  With these tree we will be able to speed up the implementation of new gardens and provide trees to all of our schools, health posts, and partner communities to bolster their food security, improve quality of life, and help them to restore the ecology of their lands. 

Photo Descriptions: 1) Clean fresh water flows from our new well in the Podor Tree Nursery. 2) Fruit tree seedlings in the Keur Soce Tree Nursery, which has started over 15,000 trees this year! 3) Podor Tree Nursery complete with basins, storehouse, water reservoir, solar panels, and restrooms. 4) A woman from Togane stands proudly with her Moringa trees. This is the first time that this village has ever had access to this miraculous and nutritious tree.

The children of Wouro Kelle verifying the water system. This garden draws water from the local river which turns brown from runoff during the rainy season.

Last but certainly not least we visited the community of Wouro Kelle to see the completion of Andando’s 40th garden!!  We are privileged to have this dedicated and deserving community join Andando at such a wonderful milestone and we can’t wait to share their story with you. Stay tuned for the next newsletter where we will profile Wouro Kelle and tell you more about the impact that this garden will have there. We would never have gotten to this point, or be able to reach such remote villages as this, without the steadfast support of our dedicated community of donors and volunteers over the past 15 years. Our hats off to you!

The women of Wourou Kelle celebrate the completion of their new garden.

It’s hard to believe but it’s already “Auction Season” for Andando, and if any of these projects resonated with you, please consider contributing in some way to help make the auction a success! We always have many more projects up for consideration than we can accomplish each year, and the success of the auction is the deciding factor on much of our yearly programing.  Whether you can help by volunteering, donating auction items, spreading the word to new potential donors, or attending and bidding on some of our amazing auction items, we appreciate your support so that we can continue this vital work in Senegal. 

Please consider contributing through our annual auction fundraiser. Whether you can help by volunteering, donating auction items, spreading the word to new potential donors, or attending and bidding on some of our amazing auction items, we appreciate your support so that we can continue this vital work in Senegal.  More info at www.andando.org/events.