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SEL School Assemblies: Growing Up a Gardener with Gardener Anna
What does it mean to grow up as a gardener?
For Gardener Anna, a student at Madison High School in New Jersey, it means growing up with a unique vocabulary for understanding emotions, discovering healthy ways to work through challenges, and sharing those tools with younger students through our interactive SEL school assemblies.
Gardener Anna has been part of our You Are a Gardener® family business since our company first took root! From the early days of our children's book to presenting at schools and connecting with thousands of students, she's grown right alongside our platform.
Today, Anna continues to present alongside our family in our #PullYourWeeds® School Assemblies. She's also exploring new opportunities through her high school internship, taking on independent projects and discovering more about the creative and entrepreneurial sides of a business she's been part of for years.
We're excited to share a closer look at Gardener Anna's journey, from growing up with our gardening tools to sharing them with younger students, and the new ways she's continuing to learn, create, connect, and grow.
Growing Up a Gardener
For Anna, being a gardener isn't just something she talks about during our school assemblies.
It's a mindset she's grown up with.
From a young age, she's been familiar with the Gardener Vocabulary & Mindset that forms the foundation of You Are a Gardener®:
Flowers: The joys and moments of gratitude in our lives.
Weeds: The worries, stressors, and challenges we all experience.
#PullYourWeeds®: Identifying and expressing our worries, stressors, and challenges, and taking healthy actions to work through them and grow.
Gardening Tools: Healthy activities and actions we choose to feel more confident, creative, calm, and connected.
Weeds to Seeds™: Using our gardening tools to work through challenges and create positive shifts. It's about growing through what we go through.
Seeds: The positive thoughts, lessons, and changes that grow when we use our gardening tools.
As Anna has grown, so has her understanding of what it means to be a gardener. The same vocabulary she learned when she was younger continues to have meaning as she navigates high school, friendships, responsibilities, and new experiences.
She's experienced firsthand how our gardening tools can grow with us, taking on new meaning at different ages and stages.
Growing Together as a Family Business
One of the special things about You Are a Gardener® is that it's truly a family business.
From the early days of our children's book to developing our #PullYourWeeds® School Assemblies, Anna and her younger brother, Gardener Aidan, have grown alongside our platform.
Over the years, Anna and Aidan have helped share our gardening message in so many ways, from starring in their own YouTube series when they were younger to presenting at school assemblies and connecting with thousands of students through the gardening language and tools they've grown up with.
Our family-led assemblies bring together different ages and perspectives, creating opportunities for students to hear how our gardening tools can be used in everyday life.
For Anna, being part of our family business has meant more than presenting onstage. She's also seen firsthand how ideas develop, programs evolve, and new opportunities take shape.
And now, through her internship, she's discovering even more ways to contribute.
A Student Presenter Connecting with Students
For the past several years, Gardener Anna has presented alongside our family, bringing the You Are a Gardener® message to elementary school communities.
One of our favorite parts of these assemblies is watching Anna connect with younger students.
As a high school student, she brings a relatable perspective to the stage. She understands many of the experiences students are navigating, while also sharing what she's learned as she's grown.
Whether she's sharing her experiences, introducing healthy gardening tools, participating in interactive activities, or answering thoughtful questions, Anna brings an encouraging, genuine presence to our presentations.
Students aren't just hearing about emotional awareness, kindness, confidence, and personal growth. They're hearing from someone who has grown up using these tools and continues to discover new ways to put them into practice.
Sometimes, seeing an older student share their experiences is a meaningful reminder that we're all gardeners, and we're all still growing.
From Student Presenter to Student Intern
This school year, Anna is exploring a new side of You Are a Gardener® through her high school internship.
Although she's been involved in our family business for years, her internship is giving her opportunities to take on more independent projects, develop new skills, and experience more of what happens behind the scenes.
Along with continuing to present at our school assemblies, Anna has been busy:
Creating educational printables and student activities inspired by our gardening characters and messages.
Exploring graphic design and developing bookmarks and other materials for upcoming assemblies.
Writing blog content and creating social media posts.
Connecting with schools and introducing our #PullYourWeeds® School Assembly Program to new communities.
Researching community partnerships and opportunities to expand our reach.
Exploring animation and new ways to bring our characters and educational messages to life.
Through these projects, she's gaining firsthand experience in marketing, communication, design, organization, entrepreneurship, and creative problem-solving.
A bookmark she designs might end up in the hands of hundreds of elementary school students. A printable she creates might become a resource for young gardeners to explore at home or in the classroom. A school she connects with might become a new community we have the opportunity to visit.
She's not just learning about a business. She's contributing to the growth of one she's been part of since childhood.
Why Student Voices Matter in SEL School Assemblies
Social-emotional learning (SEL) encourages students to develop emotional awareness, build positive relationships, make thoughtful decisions, and discover healthy ways to navigate everyday challenges.
Through our #PullYourWeeds® SEL School Assemblies, we introduce these concepts using gardening metaphors, interactive activities, mindfulness and grounding exercises, and practical gardening tools.
Having Gardener Anna and Gardener Aidan participate brings another perspective to the experience.
Younger students get to see what it looks like to grow up using the same vocabulary and tools we're introducing to them.
They hear how these ideas can be used at different ages, through different experiences, and in different situations.
And they see that being a gardener isn't about having everything figured out. It's about building awareness, discovering healthy tools, and continuing to grow.
Our goal is for every student to leave with something meaningful they can carry into their own lives, whether that's a new way to express a feeling, a gardening tool to try, or a seed of kindness to share.
Bringing #PullYourWeeds® School Assemblies to NJ, NY, CT, and Beyond
Our You Are a Gardener® family has had the opportunity to share the #PullYourWeeds® School Assembly experience with more than 30,000 students.
Our interactive elementary school assemblies combine children's literature, emotional awareness, mindfulness, grounding, healthy coping strategies, student participation, and opportunities to spread seeds of kindness.
With our family presenting together, students experience a program that brings the Gardener Vocabulary & Mindset to life through different ages, perspectives, and personal experiences.
We're based in New Jersey and offer SEL school assemblies throughout New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY), and Connecticut (CT), with opportunities to travel to schools and districts nationwide.
Whether you're a principal, school counselor, SEL coordinator, PTO/PTA representative, or educator exploring elementary school assembly programs, we'd love to share more about bringing #PullYourWeeds® to your school community.
The Next Generation of Gardeners
From being part of You Are a Gardener® since the very beginning as a first grader to presenting onstage and taking on new responsibilities within our family business, Gardener Anna continues to grow right alongside our platform.
Her internship is giving her opportunities to explore new interests, discover her strengths, contribute fresh ideas, and experience what goes into growing a business with a meaningful mission.
And while her role continues to evolve, one thing has remained the same: the gardening language she's grown up with continues to be part of her journey.
We love seeing Anna and Aidan share their experiences with younger students, knowing that the seeds we're planting together today can continue growing in new and unexpected ways.
Because growing up as a gardener means discovering that there's always something new to learn, create, share, and grow.
Bring #PullYourWeeds® to Your School!
Looking for an engaging SEL school assembly that encourages emotional awareness, confidence, kindness, connection, and personal growth?
Explore our 2026/2027 #PullYourWeeds® School Assembly Program Guide to learn more about our interactive, family-led presentations and the gardening tools we share with students.
We'd love to connect, answer your questions, and explore opportunities to spread some seeds at your school!
Let's plant something that keeps growing long after the assembly ends.
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