Greenbelt Middle School at the Springhill Lake Garden Outdoor Classroom

Program Type: 
Garden Classrooms
Grade Level/Age Group: 
Other, Adults/Professionals, College/University, High School, Middle School, Upper Elementary, Lower Elementary, Kindergarten, Pre-Kindergarten
Number of Individuals Program Serves: 
1,000
Year Founded: 
2010
About the Program: 

Since the Three Sisters Demonstration Gardens project sprouted in 2010, Chesapeake Education, Arts, and Research Society (CHEARS) has established outdoor classroom gardens that are multi-generational, handicapped accessible, beautifully artistic, and are a great example showing how to grow local healthy food at home. With help from one of our local partners, TapRoots, we provide hands-on educational workshops that foster artistic expression with students of all ages about Chesapeake Bay-friendly native plant land care practices and home edibles.

The Gardens also serve to unify the distinctive areas of Greenbelt by bringing people from around the city together in many ways. We provide an opportunity for combining gardening with artistic expression and co-learning about sustainable landscaping with local experts in each of the three major geographic areas of Greenbelt: center - Greenbelt Community Center Garden Accessibility Demonstration, east - Schrom Hills Park Garden, and west - Springhill Lake Garden Outdoor Classroom.

Greenbelt Middle School does not have a garden classroom on school grounds, so TapRoots facilitates their  lessons and programming at the Springhill Lake Garden Outdoor Classroom.  The students visit the Springhill Lake Garden Outdoor Classroom to learn with TapRoots and CHEARS volunteers as well as on their own. These students, along with University of Maryland students and local residents, help to keep the Gardens blooming and plentiful in sustainable, healthy ways for all.

A little history... In 2010, CHEARS was awarded a $1500 matching grant from the Greenbelt Community Foundation for the Three Sisters Demonstration Garden project. The Greenbelt City Council approved the three spaces on city property to be set aside for a new project of CHEARS, the Three Sisters Demonstration Gardens.  Volunteers have been essential in taking care of the garden sites and helping facilitate programming for local students and residents. Important support has come from the Whole Kids Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Trust, and Jim Cassels Grant (sponsored by the Greenbelt Coop).
 

TapRoots contact: Anthony DiMiglio, TapRoots Executive Director

CHEARS contact: Maggie Cahalan, Three Sisters Demonstration Gardens Project Coordinator