Pausing quietly for any length of time is not usually associated with rambunctious children or adolescents. But that is exactly what occurs in the Quiet Garden at Sacred Hearts School in Lahaina.

The idea for a Quiet Garden came to one of the teachers about six years ago. It seemed the next logical step in the spiritual journey for the students, teachers, and parents. Any morning a visitor to the school will pause in wonder at seeing the students ages 6-14 gathered around the courtyard saying the Our Father as a “body prayer.” A statue of Jesus with his arms upraised watches over the entire assembly.

Rev. Philip Roderick, the Anglican priest of the Diocese of Oxford, England, who founded the Quiet Garden Movement 10 years ago, was invited here in 2001 and 2003 to share in the children’s spirituality and speak to the older students. For six years, the body prayer has been the way students, teachers and some parents begin their morning even before attendance is taken.

Not long after, a labyrinth was painted on the basketball court and students and teachers could be found “walking the sacred path” any time of the school day. The labyrinth has proven marvelous as a path for mediation, calming conflict and soothing frustrations.

The idea to designate an area of the campus as the Quiet Garden followed the painting of the labyrinth. Students now regularly sit in the grassy area to write, draw or contemplate. Surrounded by hanging heliconia, white and yellow hibiscus, pink ginger and blood red streaked croton, being witness to the mango blossoms turning into hard, small green mangoes and then to lush, heavy sunset-orange juicy fruit, hearing the rustle of palm fronds in the gentle breeze and picking a banana off a stalk offers a vibrant environment ripe for awareness of life.

One can imagine the poems, writings, art and creative thoughts that come from even 15 minutes in the small area. A teacher’s instruction, “OK everyone, it’s time to go,” is often followed by voices in unison pleading, “Nooo, please can we stay longer?”

Here are some thoughts on the Quiet Garden by sixth grader Rachel Nguyen:

“The Quiet Garden at Sacred Hearts School is my calming, peaceful place. Many kinds of colorful, fragrant flowers fill the garden. When I enter the garden, fresh air comes rushing up my nose. Birds are always chirping, singing their blissful songs that delight everyone. When in the garden, everything is so peaceful and serene, so peaceful that I can hear my heart beat, the bird’s twittering song and the sound of ocean waves in my mind and ear.

“After just sitting a while in the Quiet Garden, I don’t even want or feel like talking because of all the positive energy that is filling me, making me feel tranquil and delighted that I’m living. Being in the Garden and looking at all the stunning, attractive plants give me comfort because I can be myself and there is no one around me to judge me.

“As I stretch out my hands, I feel the itchy, damp uncut grass. I feel the sturdy hard bark of the trees. I feel a dry but slimy plant and the rough, bumpy edges of the leaves and moist flowers.

“God’s role in creating all of the beauty and life in the Quiet Garden is everywhere. God created the soil, in which the plants are planted and God blessed the beautiful plants and trees which complete the Quiet Garden. God created the birds that soar high in the sky and chirp their playful songs when in the trees. God also created the earth which is the most magnificent, breathtaking gift ever, and without it, there wouldn’t be this garden.”

To visit, or for more information, call the school at 808-661-4720, or check out the website www.quietgarden.co.uk.

Mary Anna Waldrop is a teacher at Sacred Hearts School.