Welcoming For Humans - 

Our garden is surrounded by signs that say "No Trespassing," left over from the days when the garden was locked to students and the public. As part of opening our garden up to the community, students created signs with encouraging messages to hang on the garden fence. During our first year, a lot of plant labeling got lost in the chaos of planting, so this year we made sure that our plants were clearly labeled so that anyone who came to the garden could know what we had available to harvest. We also got a shed to keep our tools in and made sure to decorate the shed and our Love Fridge to add some color to the school campus. 

Signs read: "Flowers and Veggies," "Welcome to North Grand Garden,"  "Be Kind," and "We Can All Grow Together" 

Welcoming For Non-Humans - 

As our garden grows, it's becoming home to other urban wildlife. This summer we saw rabbits in addition to ducks, snakes, butterflies, and other insects. Pollinator insects are crucial to edible gardens, because without them, out plants wouldn't fruit!  This summer, we built two pollinator garden patches with native plants, thanks to a Schoolyard Habitat Action Grant from the the Jadel Youth Fund and the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation. We were one of only four schools in Chicago to receive the grant, and are so thankful to have native perennial plants in our garden. We are also trying to work with the fact that our garden is the home of several garter snakes. Students using the N-G Maker Space made us some additional signage to let people know to respect our snake population. 

Above: a Black Swallowtail Butterfly (like the one we over-wintered in the classroom) drinks from a purple cone flower, new signage reframes our garter snakes as garden guards, and a bunny finds home under a bench. 

Below: Tamisha and Dezya till away a patch of grass to plant a pollintor garden. Angel and Israel help pull weeds from the plot, and Damaris, Jason, and Melanie transplant native plants into the soil. 

Harvesting with Freshman Connection - 

While beautifying the garden, students also worked hard to keep it alive in the summer heat so that we could harvest produce for the community Love Fridge. Garden Club Interns were joined by students from Freshman Connection each week to harvest food and donate it to the Fridge. 

Class Reflections

<<add in additional reflections:  how did the big idea/inquiry question change from what you originally wrote in your planning form? What did you learn from students? How did the class digress in positive ways? How did SEL show up in the class?>>