“ The Oakhurst Community Garden was an ideal outdoor classroom for my students, and it was the perfect setting to learn about edible gardens. I was pleased with the way students applied and extended their learning about ecosystems by making connections between their prior knowledge and what they learned at the Garden.” –City Schools of Decatur Teacher
Oakhurst Community Garden Project’s Educational Outreach to Schools strives to reach, teach, and inspire young people in the community. We recognize that each school environment is unique and therefore strive to offer individualized educational programs. The OCGP has provided many exciting investigations of the natural world such as bees and pollinators in the garden, life cycles, bugs and insects, composting, rocks and soils, gardening, and habitat explorations. Also there are many opportunities for service learning, and occupational therapy.
A student’s exposure to and interaction with the natural world engages them in an active hands-on experience that creates a meaningful connection to their environment. You can foster this by taking the class outside or bringing the outside in your classroom. Either way, you will present an interactive, hands-on approach to excite students about nature’s complexity.
If you would like OCGP to visit your school, please contact Melanie Heckman, Youth Programs Manager at 404-371-1920 or melanie@wyldecenter.org.
The OCGP has collaborated with many community partners to enable us to offer these programs. Some of these partners include the Decatur Education Foundation and the Patrick Family Foundation. Through these collaborations we have accomplished many goals and have served the community well.