1st Place Organic Gold Award
Cornerstone Learning Community
Tallahassee, Florida

Gardens at Cornerstone Learning Community are not simply boxes and plots sectioned off from the rest of the school grounds. From flower boxes on the walkways to terrariums in the classrooms to native flora wild spaces, the entire school attempts to synthesize the outside and inside learning environment. Students engage in their outdoor classrooms as gardeners, land stewards, and academic learners.

Each grade level has a garden box as well as a habitat that ties to their academic curriculum. Pre-K students are proud of their sunflower house and Peter Rabbit garden. Kindergartners and first graders are both growing fall vegetables along with bird sanctuary gardens. They will submit their observations of bird species to The 2005 Great Backyard Bird Count and Project FeederWatch. Second graders have designed and planted butterfly and hummingbird gardens. They use reference books to identify and learn about the various species they observe. Third graders have designed a center-piece sensory garden (sight, touch, taste, feel, sound) which greets visitors as they enter the campus.

As part of their study of Florida wetland ecology, fourth graders planted a water garden complete with native flora species to attract  native fauna. Fifth graders grew gourds for Purple Martin houses during their dynamics of ecology lesson. They also grow loofahs to sell locally as part of their study of economics. Middle school students have initiated an entrepreneurial partnership with a local organic grocer by selling their organically grown basil and other seasonal herbs to support the garden project and underwrite educational field trips. Their studies include propagation, business models, production and marketing. All grades also maintain seasonal vegetable gardens.

Cornerstone has eighteen individual garden areas — children maintain each garden with guidance from our Gardening/Life Sciences instructor and extra hands from family members, garden club members, business partner volunteers and the garden committee.

Students in the after-school program’s garden club water raised beds in the afternoon. They use a mist-style sprinkler system to conserve water use. Older students maintain soil by adding rabbit manure, worm tea and castings to soils in beds based on the plant and rotation requirements. We use heavy organic mulch around gardens to prevent and cut down on weeds. The youngest children enjoy releasing ladybugs while older students visit the gardens to find, identify, and remove pests from the plants without the use of pesticides. Students have also studied the benefits of companion planting in which plants "help" each other control pests. Our families, students and community volunteers gather every few weeks for Community Workdays to tackle large garden projects as a team. These methods are used to increase students’ ownership, deepen experiential knowledge, and unite the community in a common cause.

Care of our gardens does not end when summer begins; volunteers organize a weekly schedule for basic garden care including watering, harvesting, soil turning, weeding, composting, and repairs.

Special garden-centered events take place throughout the year. Fall and spring festivals celebrate the harvests. Both feature crafts from the gardens (i.e., pressed flower bookmarks, gourd bird houses, musical instruments, and loofah sponges). They also feature cut flowers, potted plants, vegetables, and gathered seeds packaged and sold by students. Each class harvests their theme gardens. Young hands transform the bounty into delicious salads, salsas, pesto, pizzas, jams, and jellies to be enjoyed by our community members. Finally, students compile recipes for a Cornerstone Cookbook at the end of the year.

Students’ input is vital at every stage of the gardening program. They brainstorm themes, develop landscaping plans, organize plots based on plant needs, sow, reap, revitalize, repair, haul compost, turn compost, till, weed, and test the soil. The joys of the harvest are theirs because they appreciate the sweat of their labors.

One core aspect of our school community is social responsibility. Students are committed to their gardens. Our harvests are picked by proud hands. The children clean and prepare the bounty for many purposes. Some are made into large nutritious salads that are served at a local homeless shelter and at local retirement center as part of a community service project for the older students. Fruits from the kumquat trees are used to make jellies which are sold to benefit the homeless shelter. Lush crops of fresh organic basil are sold as part of the middle school’s entrepreneur program.

Students learn, first and foremost, how food goes from the earth to the table. They also learn to value our dynamic ecosystem; earth stewardship, communication, cooperation, life cycles, the joy of nature, and the benefits of working toward a common goal. In the classroom, teachers relate literature choices, math, and social and scientific concepts to lessons in the gardens. All students begin to understand how everything is connected. Our students graduate knowing that their actions have value and we all are ultimately responsible for the care of our planet.