Check out our Garden Video!

Thanks to the over 300 students and two dozen parents participating in the extensive school gardening program, IHM School is proud of its green thumb!

The students plant, harvest, and eat various vegetables including kale, collard greens, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, and watermelons. Any produce not consumed by the school is shared with a local food bank teaching students the value of services to others. 

A grant from Captain Planet Foundation provided the school with a cooking cart to facilitate tasting activities, as well as, materials for teachers to use in conducting outdoor lessons. The ongoing partnership with Captain Plant will enable IHM to integrate healthy eating choices with gardening activities.

We also have a math garden, a series of polygon-shaped beds that showcase ornamental plants. Students in lower grades learn about the number of sides of various shapes while the intermediate grades measure sides and angles. In addition, the Storybook “beds” bring literature to life through plants. From thyme in the Peter Pan garden to lamb’s ears in the Charlotte’s Web garden, students connect the living world to the written word. 

The composting segment of the gardening program has grown as well. Students take plant matter and waste from the lunchroom to the compost bin and monitor and document the decomposition process in science class.

A focal point of the garden is a mosaic sundial, created by middle school students and their art teacher. Students learn about telling time using the sun and the similarities and differences from current techniques.

Finally, IHM School installed saint images along the garden fence. These images on display remind the school community that good and holy people are part of the blessings that God shares with us, as is the garden. These saints were chosen as representative of appreciation for God’s creation. 

The goal of this program is to integrate the school gardens into many components of the curriculum. Sharing God’s creation and learning how best to care for it is an important part of what transpires at Immaculate Heart of Mary School.