Students across Central Florida are learning some important lessons thanks to two brothers who teach gardening — and peace — one plant at a time.

Garrett and Russell Collins visit schools and recently make a visit to Forest Lake Elementary in Deltona. There, they gave each kindergarten student a plant and showed them how the plants can clean the air in their classroom.

“These plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen,” said Garrett Collins, cofounder of Peace by Peace.

The brothers formed Peace by Peace several years ago. The two break away from their full-time jobs at least once a week to teach kids about respecting and appreciating the environment.

"Often, these kids have never received a plant before, and these plants open a new door for them, and they start to develop a greater affinity for nature,” Russell Collins said.

The brothers say after their visits, teachers report back to them saying they’ve seen improvement in the students — but not just in their academic performance.

Their overriding message to the kids is compassion.

“Who knows what bullying is?” Garrett asked the Forest Lake students.

“If you’re able to take care of this plant and nurture it, what we feel like happens is, now you might treat each other better,” Garrett said.

“We’ve actually had teachers tell us — have given us testimonials — that students learned compassion, learned responsibility, they learned about respect and treat one another better, as well as the environment,” he continued.

Added Russell: “To us, this is the future. These young ones that are coming up right now are going to be the ones that shape this world. And we feel like if we can impact them here right now, in the future, they’ll be better citizens and more informed and care more about their environment. Through that, we’ll hopefully all live in a more peaceful world.”


Brothers Garrett (left) and Russell Collins visit a Central Florida school each week to teach students about plants — and respect. (Jeff Allen, staff)

The students will continue to care for their plants at school.

“It really brings responsibility to these kids and teaches them how to nurture,” said Christina Bise, a kindergarten teacher at Forest Lake Elementary. “And when they nurture now, they learned how to nurture later on in life, too.”

The students also got cabbage seeds to take home with them. Not every student will grow a green thumb. But the Collins brothers hope the children will learn to treat each other with respect.

“We’re trying to bring peace, and this is how we’re doing it,” Garrett said.

You can learn more about the Collins brothers’ Peace by Peace initiative on its Facebook page.