Last Spring, with the support of Audubon Mid-Atlantic’s Delaware River Watershed Program team, school staff, students and local volunteer organizations, I installed a pollinator garden at both Dr. Ethel Allen School and Edward Gideon School. Following installation, I activated and maintained the spaces by moving many lessons this year outside and hosting weekly after-school Garden club meetings with 2-8th graders at Gideon. 

During these lessons and club meetings, students learned about the benefits of native plants for pollinating insects and birds by observing and documenting changes in the garden, as well as caring for the space by watering, weeding, and working on creative beautification projects. In so doing, the students not only built a sense of belonging and responsibility to their environment, but also to their fellow students and school community with whom they collaborated with to care for the garden.

Beyond just beautifying the garden and improving the habitat for birds and pollinators, Garden Club gives students a space to just be themselves outside–making friends and finding the activities and topics that interest them most. 

Parents, local organizations, and volunteer groups like the Philly City Repair Project and the Rooted North Tree Tenders joined the students by contributing materials and volunteer effort to over 10 Garden Workdays throughout my two years. These days were crucial in tackling major garden projects like planting and watering over 150 new herbaceous plants, 2 Native PawPaw trees, and 8 street trees. 

This year, we collaborated with the Philly City Repair Project for the second time on their Philly Village Building Convergence–a volunteer day where current and former teachers and students alongside local tree tenders and community garden leaders painted stones for, built, and planted a new garden bed. 

None of this would have been possible without the support from the Gideon school community itself especially Community School Coordinator Greg Wright (Alumni FAO Schwarz Fellow, The Food Trust ‘13) and Ms. Mitchell (7/8th grade teacher) who not only helped lead Garden Club and Garden Worknights, but also believed in the value of my work from day one and encouraged students and parents to trust me. 

Through all of our combined efforts, the Gideon Garden has become more than simply a habitat for birds and pollinators, or a decoration for the school—it stands as a physical representation of the care that the wider school community has contributed and serves as an ongoing catalyst for building connections between students, teachers, and families and the land that sustains them.

Looking ahead, it is gratifying to know I can lean on the partnerships I’ve built with local organizations and volunteer groups to coordinate ongoing care for the Garden so it can continue to serve as a space of gathering and education for students for years to come.