Garinger High School

The Urban Farm Learning Center is focused on producing fresh healthy food, teaching people to feed themselves in a sustainable way, and workforce development through targeted internships and transitional employment. The Farm is the extension of a school garden started in the 2000's by a Teach for America Service Member, and is the largest produce generator for Charlotte's Meals on Wheels organization, with over 90 gardens in the network and counting.

At The Farm there remains a school garden space, along with a refurbished industrial greenhouse sporting an Aquaponics system, with Hydroponics coming online in 2016, and just under an acre under crop in a reconverted sports practice field. 

Our community partners include Friendship Gardens, 100 Gardens and Slow Food Charlotte.

The Urban Farm acts as a laboratory for students and teachers to apply and enrich classroom learning. Lesson on photosynthesis, soil quality, and plants are obvious but the greenhouse and gardens are also used to teach water conservation, data analysis and graphing, as well as computer programming. .

Students on non-traditional paths like OCS benefit greatly from hands-on learning that provides real work experience. Understanding and following directions are a primary focus. Lessons on harvesting, seed propagation and square foot gardening teach focus. .

Many students at Garinger have recently arrived in the United States. The garden gets these students out of their chairs and interacting with each other. English skills are developed through recipes, food preparation and cooking as well as cultural understanding.

Some ISS students discover that the physical effort involved in farming helps reduce stress and promote a sense of accomplishment.