Powell GT Elementary Community Courtyard Gardens

The Powell GT Magnet gardens and outdoor classrooms are educational spaces and part of our initiative to create a local food system that is based on community empowerment through education. We have partnered with Sixth Sun (www.sixthsun.co) and NCSU landscape design department to design and build gardens and outdoor classrooms at our elementary school in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Eventually our outdoor courtyard space will also have a rain garden, pollinator gardens and an outdoor stage for theatrical productions and concerts.
The stakeholders of this project include teachers, administrators, parents, students, and neighbors, all of whom have been involved since the conception of this project.
The outcome will be stimulating places for play, learning, performing, teaching and environmental education for all students. We are creating spaces where all kids can learn about and interact with their food source. We also want to embed lessons on the importance of environmental stewardship, individual responsibility and impact.
As this project succeeds it will act as a springboard to broader community interaction and involvement, including the potential of a community garden, more home gardens, sustainable gardening workshops, demand of more local produce availability and community wide unification.