Instructor and Garden Coordinator - Cathy Denham

Important Links: 

Garden Updates   

Garden Curriculum Map

Woodlawn Garden Mission 

To educate “responsible, contributing members of a diverse, global society” by teaching sustainable organic gardening practices, learning about biodiversity and sustainability in the garden environment, and by growing tasty vegetables and fun flowers through which we learn the pride and satisfaction of growing our own food.

Woodlawn Garden Guiding Principles

1. Woodlawn’s gardens are organically maintained to support our philosophy of sustainability and to make a safe, wholesome place for children to learn and grow.

2. Gardening establishes seasonal rhythms in children’s lives much like traditions and holidays do. 

3. Gardening gives children a sense of place, time and belonging. 

4. Gardening helps children value the earth and all its creatures and cycles and helps children grasp earth’s complexity.

5. Gardening helps children to be comfortable in the natural world. 

6. Gardening teaches children that food is a product of a complex process and helps children value vegetables as nutrition.

7. Gardening is a place where children can be kinesthetic learners and improve their fine and gross motor skills in a non-competitive environment.

8. Gardening supports Woodlawn’s mission of educating independent life-long learners who are responsible members of a diverse global society.

Garden Curriculum Overview

In garden class with Mrs. Denham Woodlawn students grades K-6 grow fall and spring vegetables and annual flowers! In fall and spring students grades K-5 spend half an hour each week gardening, preparing the soil, planting, watering and then harvesting tasty vegetables.   Students in 1^st through 5th grades garden together in class gardens.  

Students are very proud of the food they have grown themselves, so watch for lettuces and other items as they come home in our reusable veggie containers made of milk cartons.  Please return the harvest container to your classroom.    

6th graders have gardening integrated into science; we call it extreme gardening!  In extreme gardening, students have their very own garden which they plan and care for from start to finish. The 6th Graders also maintain a perennial flower garden to benefit wildlife as part of our service learning theme animal advocacy and as part of gardening. Lower school students help in the wildlife garden by filling birdbaths and bird feeders to attract birds.  Blueberry bushes in our gardens also attract birds.  Our gardens can provide a beautiful natural learning space for our students and provide food for the birds and insects, too! We have bird feeders and bird baths to attract birds.

We also maintain a small compost pile to recycle the energy from the vegetable leftovers and non-noxious weeds and also some lunch apple cores, etc. into new nitrogen and other nutrients for our gardens.  Students sometimes bring coffee grounds or veggie or fruit peelings from home for our compost pile.  Students run over from lunch to compost those apple cores, too!

We garden organically in the Woodlawn gardens.  We do not add chemical fertilizers or weed killers.  Instead, we pull weeds and enrich the soil with nutrients by adding composted manure.  Our organic gardening methods support our mission of teaching sustainability.  We are able to see many more living creatures in the gardens because we don’t spray chemicals that kill things. In so doing, we also provide a wholesome environment for our children and teach them how to be good stewards of the earth. Our Woodlawn Garden mission statement supports the Woodlawn mission and philosophy.