April 16, 2023 in the Garland Community Garden with Ahmet Cetinkaya, his father and Vijval Byagari and his father
A Big THANK YOU to the Helping Hands in the Garden Today!
One of the many nice things about being a steward for a community garden is that you get to meet nice people of all ages and backgrounds. This afternoon was such a day. Ahmet Cetinkaya and Vijval Byagari came to the garden today to volunteer two work hours to the garden. Both boys attend Harmony Science Academy here in Garland and both are members of the National Elementary Honors Society. Students who excel academically and model exceptional responsibility can become members through a local selection process that concludes with induction into the school’s National Elementary Honor Society chapter. Membership provides an outstanding means to prepare and shape students for their middle level and high school experiences
Vijval Byagari and Amet Cetinkaya are good friends and both play soccer. Today at the garden, Vijval wore his National Elementary Honor Society shirt and Amet wore his Rodolfo shirt. [Rodolfo is a Soccer player from Portugal.]
Vijval is 11 and Amet will be 11 in July. While chatting with them, I learned they are involved in other community services as well. For example, twice a month they help make sandwiches for the homeless at On the Border and at Boomer Jack’s.
Today the boys chopped weeds and watered the entire garden. If you’ve been down there, you know that’s saying a lot as it takes one person almost two hours to water it all. Both boys are absolutely great--not because they are so intelligent, although there is that, but because they are both obviously endearingly kind. Intelligent and kind is an unbeatable combination. Vijval is trilingual and Amet is bilingual. Both boys were born in the USA. Amet’s parents are from Turkey and Vijval’s parents are from India.
Elementary National Honor Students from Harmony Science Academy in Garland, Texas: Amet and Vijval give lessons in weed chopping and garden watering.