Green Heart Beet: Let’s get this party started 🎉

Time sure does fly when you’re having fun! With May underway, and our 15th Annual Harvest Dinner just one week away [get your tickets today!] 🎉, it’s the time of year where we look back at the past school year and recap and reflect on all that has happened in our school gardens.

During the ‘24 – ‘25 school year our Farm to School efforts focused on 5 main schools – Charleston Catholic School, James Simons Montessori School, Meeting Street Academy, Mitchell Elementary, and Sullivan’s Island Elementary. And while it can be easy to recap our programs with a broad overview and some quick data points, we’d like to dig a little deeper into our year. 🐛

Digging in on ’24 – ’25 Farm to School Programs

Mitchell Elementary: At our flagship school, we once again hosted STEAM programs that brought students at every grade level out to the garden for lessons that aligned with students’ science and math standards. Garden Educator Jane hosted two lessons a week, seeing students aged PreK-5th and covering topics that ranged from a color exploration in the garden for our youngest students to pickling with our 5th grade students.

Lesson Highlight: Potato Harvest – Mitchell students explored the parts of a plant while harvesting potatoes from the garden twice this year. By looking through the leaves to find the main stem, they found the roots and tubers (aka the potatoes!) that were harvested and sent home with students to enjoy!

Sullivan’s Island Elementary (SIES): At SIES, each student got out to the garden twice a semester for lessons hosted by our Garden Educator Jane. Much like our Mitchell program, students grades PreK-5th came out to the garden and used the opportunity to connect hands-on, garden-based learning with state science standards that they were learning in the classroom.

Lesson Highlight: Butterfly Haven – According to Jane, a highlight of this year’s program was the abundance of milkweed in the school garden and the butterfly activity that stemmed from the flourishing habitat. The garden was a “butterfly haven” last fall and students were able to watch the butterfly life cycle – from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly – and explore and discuss the upcoming migration of these fun garden friends.

Another fun connection for our STEAM programs this year was the opportunity for Mitchell Elementary and Sullivan’s Island 3rd graders to come together at the Urban Farm at Enston Home. Third grade students across the state have a science standard that challenges them to explore solutions to environmental problems, so these students got together to explore how the Urban Farm may help the environment. It was an exciting opportunity to connect students from different schools and let our STEAM students meet their “Green Heart Buddies” who are also engaging in garden-based science programs!

Meeting Street Academy: This year provided the exciting opportunity to officially activate our new Green Heart garden at Singleton Park. It was a year of “firsts” – first plantings, first harvests, first flowers – as well as a new beginning for students at Meeting Street Academy to make the garden their own. Garden Educator Amy utilized the community pavilion as her outdoor classroom and would then transition students into the garden for hands-on activities. After many years of planning and construction, seeing the garden come to life as an educational space was truly something special.

Charleston Catholic School: As in years past, 6th graders from CCS came out once a week during their science class with Ms. Siedentop for an hour long garden lesson. Students engaged in a range of science-focused, culinary and exploratory lessons while building a sense of belonging and ownership in the garden space. Garden Educator Amy led the lessons, but also took the opportunity to bring in guests to supplement garden learning, including Chef Gabrielle Smith!

Lesson Highlight: A Visit from a Chef – Our 6th grade students concluded the school year with a special culinary experience in the school garden, led by Chef Gabrielle Smith (@gritsandgabs). Using garden-fresh produce, they prepared Buffalo and BBQ Crispy Cauliflower Florets accompanied by Blistered Ranch Green Beans. The experience was capped off with a creative dessert—Chocolate Garden Beds [a play on a dirt and worms dessert] adorned with crumbled graham cracker “compost” and edible flowers.

James Simons Elementary: At James Simons we hosted programs on a “field trip model,” which meant that teachers at all grade levels got the opportunity to sign up for garden visits throughout the school year that would help bring their classroom learning to life through hands-on garden exploration. Amy led students through lessons about plant anatomy, beneficial insects, planting and harvesting techniques, and the culinary and artistic uses of plants. Each class focused on a unique aspect of garden education, ensuring their experience was meaningful, enjoyable and directly connected to their in-classroom learning.

Now that our programs have wrapped up it’s time to share our gratitude and celebrate! For a moment of gratitude, we’d like to send our deepest #GreenHeartGratitude to Jane and Amy, our wonderful Garden Educators, to our dedicated and passionate Green Heart Buddy volunteers, and to all the cooperating teachers and school staff who gave us the people power that was needed to host lessons this school year.

And last but not least, for the celebration! Join us on Thursday, May 22nd from 5-8pm for our 15th Annual Harvest Dinner. It’s our annual springtime event, celebrating another year of growing food, minds & community in Charleston schools. Hosted in tandem with our flagship school partner, Mitchell Elementary, the event showcases the school’s urban farm & gardens, and hosts guests to a garden-fresh dinner, live music, & family-friendly activities. Don’t forget to get your tickets today!