Every School Should Have a Garden | Jaime Manfra | Ep 16

In this episode of Real Unity, Sienna Mae Heath sits down with Jaime Manfra, founder of Service Learning Microschool, a Bahá’í-inspired learning community in the Tampa Bay area that has been reimagining education for more than 14 years. What began as a small neighborhood children’s group has grown into a state-licensed private microschool built on the belief that education should nurture the whole human being—not simply prepare students for tests, careers, or achievement.

Drawing from her experience as an educational pioneer and leader in the microschool movement, Jaime shares why she believes microschools represent the future of learning. Together, Sienna and Jaime explore education through a philosophical lens, examining the purpose of schooling, the cultivation of character, and the role of service in personal and community transformation.

The conversation challenges the assumptions of the industrial education model and revisits older, more organic approaches to learning—from one-room schoolhouses to the wisdom found in natural systems like gardens.

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