June 5, 2023 --  Roxboro Elementary students are getting their hands dirty. The school broke ground on a new learning garden in May in an after-school ceremony that attracted around 85 students and their families.

When PTA President Karen Rolfe mentioned that she’d always dreamed of having a garden on campus, parent Brandy Hudelson stepped up and said “I’m a garden lady.” She wasn’t exaggerating. A Master Gardener of Ohio, Hudelson has managed the Hampshire Road Community Garden for seven years and ran a gardening non-profit in Detroit before that. It was a natural match.

With an initial $1,000 in funding from a Future Heights mini-grant, the raised garden beds were built on the western side of the building, facing the middle school, where sunlight is abundant. Hudelson submitted two other grants to Mobius and the Whole Kids Foundation that will announce awards in late summer.

Roxboro’s 4th grade classes had the opportunity to plant the first vegetables in the school garden: beans, corn and squash, also known as the Three Sisters of Native American agriculture. “Fourth grade is the perfect age to focus on,” said Hudelson, as they’re old enough to really participate in the hard work of planting but will still be enrolled at the school come harvest time next fall. A team of volunteers and community partners will be tending the plants over the summer, which is always a challenge for schools who are on vacation during the heaviest growing period.

The school has also offered a ten-week after school Gardening Club for students in grades 3-5. Hudelson led students in everything from sowing winter seeds to propagating Christmas cacti to a surprisingly fun “garden tool identification” activity on a rainy spring day.

The new garden reinforces the skills learned with the indoor hydroponic garden that the school was awarded this past winter. Principal Shelley Pulling described the endeavor as “a great way for our students to gain a deeper understanding of how a garden grows while fostering positive relationships amongst our community.”