Moore Elementary School students learn about ecosystems hands-on with community garden

Students at Moore Elementary School in Winston-Salem are learning about ecosystems, plants, and food through gardening on campus.

Volunteers will spend Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service working on more outdoor projects for the school. 

The garden started last fall as a way for students to do some hands-on learning and get to know where food comes from and how it’s grown. They’ve learned about watering plants, weeding and worms. So far, they’ve grown things like tomatoes, squash and greens.  

According to Assistant Principal Sean Reaves, it’s been a positive experience.

“Oh, it's impacted them tremendously. I actually was hand-delivered one of the pumpkins in October. And it just really made my day," he said. "I was just talking to one of our students about the work that they were doing. And they surprised me at my door one day, came to my office, and presented me with this pumpkin.”

He says the students are proud of what they grow. 

Right now, the school has one raised bed, a couple of butterfly gardens, some birdhouses and an outdoor classroom area with seats made out of tree trunks and stones. 

Reaves says the space has blossomed over the last few months. And on Monday, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, students, staff and volunteers are going to take it even further. 

They’ll plant bulbs, start an orchard and construct additional raised beds to grow more produce — much of which will go to a food pantry. 

“My hope is that this will just be the start of something that will just continue to give, and give back from the Earth to all of our families. And it produces healthy citizens," Reaves said. "And it produces students who are health-conscious, who are service-minded, and also have a talent for something for sustainability.”

The community is invited to help out with the garden projects at Moore on Monday from 9 to 11 a.m. 

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.