Wholesome Generation – Building Healthy Communities
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“Let Nature be your teacher”.
~William Wordsworth~
The words may be few, but their power rings true for every generation. Moreover, it's necessary now than ever before that our youth be raised in a wholesome manner-with nature, nutrition, and holistic growth at its crux. With increasing awareness about the positive influence of nature on young minds, more parents are looking for schools that are willing to go back a few steps and ‘uncomplicate’ study and learning. One such school, right here in Austin, believes in ‘Building community through the power of food’. It is Wholesome Generation.
Who is Wholesome Generation?
Wholesome Generation is a woman-founded community school in North Austin that sits on the 5-acre native Tonkawa farm, started by the Founder of Wholesome Generation after moving to this native space. The school focuses on STEAM learning with a special emphasis on exposure to the outdoors and creating through hands-on food and farm model and entrepreneurship classes.
Founded by a native European chef, vibrational sound therapist and a remarkable businesswoman, Lene Saint-Orens, Wholesome Generation aims to integrate a child’s learning with mindful living, healthy nutrition, and a strong focus on sustainability of our eco-systems.
How Did it Come to Be?
After having grown up and lived in Europe, when Lene moved to the United States, she struggled with finding a community based school program for her child that accommodated diversity, a healthy food environment and copious mingling with, and studying of, nature.
After years of research, attempts and personal sacrifices, Lene founded Wholesome Generation; a year round accessible community space that nurtures an education to benefit the whole child; teaching them and at the same time allowing them to discover and find their own voice.
The school building along with its natural spaces is a very welcoming sight. There are edible and pollinator gardens, & protected trees. Additionally, a nourishing creek nearby is used to rewild children, and teach them science, botany and ecology conservation. It is also home for community collaborations such as gardens, and healing therapy, such as mindfulness studies, sound therapy sessions, and forest therapy.
WG’s mobile culinary classroom serves as the only Austin youth program that presents food security, a nature-conservation focused education, and community wellness through the year. This program is accessible for both youth, and families. WG supplies youth with free school lunches and serves well over 20,000 meals annually to the community.
The acreage over which Wholesome Generation operates is the Tonkawa farm, land that once belonged to the Tonkawa tribe and is honored by planting native seeds and teaching native culinary traditions. Lene and her team at WG hold in high esteem this fact and endorse the conservation of this natural ecosystem by focusing on regenerative agriculture, where the focus is on building soil, and through it, healthy immune systems.
Wholesome Generation’s Learning Model and Reggio Emilia Approach
At its core, the Reggio Emilia approach of education encourages plentiful exploration & learning led by children themselves, co-creating with the community and in collaboration with families. The teachers at WG foster mindful practices to arm the students with valuable social & emotional skills, hone their self-awareness and help build resilience and control within the child.
Some Values Concentrated Upon Are:
Respecting every individual child
Supporting health through organic and locally grown food
Freedom for students to suggest their own topics of interest to be part of the wholesome model
Promoting avenues for creative expression with art as daily subject
Providing rich resources for hands-on learning and experimentation
Documenting each child's learning journey.
Subjects Taught at This Community School Are:
Art therapy
Culinary + Gardening education
Vegetable cultivation + permaculture
Yoga and gymnastics
Entrepreneur classes (executed by running WG’s Market stand)
Botany + Medicinal classes
Diversity classes.
and more
Highlights of Wholesome Generation
Rewilding Children And Co-Creating A Sustainability Model For Entire Communities
This nature centric essential business proudly turns “screen time into green time”. It does so by making sure children spend 4-5 hours engaging with natural habitat, understanding how their actions can impact the environment. This feature, especially during the pandemic, has played a tremendous role in maintaining good mental and physical health (with zero COVID-19 cases, due to very limited indoor exposure).
Implementing researched-based and individually tailored learning programs for children as little as 18 months to youth aged 12 and the participating community, Wholesome Generation fosters a culture of ‘yes’ and compassionately provides sustainability and food security for many.
Supporting Minorities and Under-Resourced Families
Lene says that the essence of this program is in identifying the key needs of the community and co-creating efforts towards a flourishing eco-system that supports all community programs. Positioned between two distinct Austin neighborhoods, Rundberg and Tech Ridge, Wholesome Generation makes sure no child is turned away from its doorstep due to financial struggles.
The community school wholeheartedly supports the working-class families, by implementing a sliding scale fee structure, accepting work-trades and subsidized care vouchers. The school provides access to organic, fresh, and school grown plant-based snacks and lunches and parents are invited to participate by volunteering as part of the community outreach model. This promotes social connectivity and harmony.
“The strong support from our neighbors, students and their families has given us the resources to carry on through COVID-19”, states Lene.
Wholesome Generation, in an initiative to grant full educational scholarships and food security for all minority families, has partnered recently with the Black Bodies Project, a project with the vision to eradicate racism through creativity, connection, and collective understanding.
Additionally, TexasRealFood discussed challenges faced by families when transitioning children from processed foods to home-grown foods. “It all begins with small steps, such as replacing artificial sweeteners with local, organic sources, such as honey from our own bees. We teach children to plant, and harvest. Inviting them into the garden, makes them want to try their creations. Furthermore, we invite families to co-create with us and this makes them more interested in adding health to their daily meals.
Food Plus Farming Model at Wholesome Generation
Lene and her team of educators at Wholesome Generation stand by the philosophy, “Food is the new currency”. One of the prime focus at the school revolves around fostering a thriving relationship with real food. The Tonkawa farm, with all its natural gifts, becomes the most ideal learning center for ecology and science focused minds, and active children who are ready to co-create solutions that will trickle into their own homes.
Skills Taught Here Are :
Permaculture design
Pollinator conservation
Organic, seasonal gardening
and more
The Wholesome Generation kitchen supports a food market that is local, clean, and fair. The school collaborates with the community of local farmers and vendors who practice sustainable regenerative agriculture. The teachers involve students in an ‘eco gastronomic’ curriculum, where students actively participate in all aspects of the food cycle. All children are also provided with meals and snacks that are sugar & gluten-free, and with vegan options.
“The key to food security is producing your food and inspiring generations to learn sustainable regenerative farming techniques”, explains Lene. “We inculcate awareness for the current environmental impact and encourage youth to develop their reasoning and critical thinking”.
Yoga & Mindfulness Studies
Wholesome Generation utilizes the core practices from one of the most helpful research based social-emotional learning programs, MindUP™. In combination, with other programs that are instilled by our teachers, definitions of mindful words are introduced in discussions ,daily. A fine example would be a conversation about gratitude and empathy.
The brain train routine, practiced daily, is especially beneficial to encourage controlled breathing and mindful relaxation.
Vibrational Sound Healing Therapy
An especially holistic method of healing practiced at Wholesome Generation is the vibrational sound healing technique. Lene conducts these sessions for students, community members and others. She is certified by the American Vibrational Sound Association & foreign Sound Institutions. As a matter of fact, Lene has worked with children and adults, supporting their healing, trauma release, and deep relaxation. Using VST, Lene heals the body of autoimmune, and other diseases. She also works with families who have a loved one with dementia.
Primarily, VST works on the principle that vibrations and sounds activate the parasympathetic nervous system and realign the energy field.
During a VST session, clients experience deep relaxation and flow of energy along with a state of meditativeness. This technique is applied in all WG classes helping young children to calm their mind and better focus on their studies.
Vibrational Sound Healing helps in:
Lowering blood pressure
Improves sleep
Reduces stress levels
Reduces anxiety
Healing of trauma
Reconnecting people with dementia to the real world.
Current Projects at Wholesome Generation
Presently, Wholesome Generation is working on:
Developing medicinal gardens, sensory gardens, and a food forest in collaboration with local partners
Seeking funds to build a rain collection system, an educational greenhouse and developing a new pollinator project
Organizing weekly market stands that incorporate harvests from the gardens, herbal concoctions from their apothecary and the students creations
Launching a Regenerative Agriculture Food Bus that brings produce to underserved communities and also serves as culinary classroom on site
Establishing long lasting partnerships with impact investors to grow the model nationwide.
Fund a Project
These uncertain times have shaken the best of businesses and WG is no exception. The hardest hit have been the heartbeat of the community-the local and small businesses and minority communities.
Wholesome Generation, in collaboration with community partners is inviting youth and families to take benefit through this program. Here they will learn literacy, math, science, community building, health, leadership, and connection.
With support, you not only allow them to continue their efforts, but also enrich the lives of our vulnerable youth. You may fund one of their many projects, or donate to their food & minority youth scholarships.
If you are a parent, a local farmer, business organization, a donor or someone who would like to partner up with Wholesome Generation, please click here.
