Mount Zion
Elementary School
| Organizations: |
Mt. Zion Elementary School 21st Century / James Island Community Education |
| Location: | Johns Island |
| Website: | http://mtzion.ccsdschools.com// |
| Garden Leader: | Position open. Can you volunteer? |
| Schedule: | Current Garden Schedule |
Garden History
In 2005, former director of the Charleston Area Children's Garden Project, Fred Phillips, contracted with 21st Century After School Program to commence a garden project for 60 after school students. Students, teachers, and volunteers built and painted the raised beds, planted the vegetable seeds, and nurtured the garden through the semesters. By Spring, the garden was flourishing, and the Principal, Deborah Fordham, was totally convinced that the garden was a beautiful addition to the school, both aesthetically and academically as an outdoor classroom. Darlena Goodwin, our current director, was teaching at Mt Zion Elementary at the time, and emerged as an advocate for teaching science through the outdoors. In 2007, Darlena accepted the position of Director of the CACGP, and continued with the extensive plan for the garden at Mt Zion. To date, Mt Zion's garden includes a large area of vegetables, an herb garden, a butterfly garden, a butterfly habitat house, a greenhouse, an orange tree, a papaya tree, muscadine grape vines, a strawberry patch, a living fence (carolina flowers along the fence line), and a huge 'thinking' boulder from the Cherokee mountain area of Tennessee. The 3rd grade teacher, Ms Lisa Stentz, has embraced the garden as a vehicle to teach earth science, and the after school program uses the garden to support health and nutrition education. The garden at Mt Zion is to be the future site of a mini-farmer's market, a pilot venture between the school and Joe Fields Farm on Johns Island.