A garden that teaches

We visited Irmo Middle School recently to see their pollinator garden. Originally started by science teacher Will Green to help migrating monarch’s use their only larval food source, milkweed, on their trip back to Mexico for the winter, this garden evolved into a teaching facility. As the garden and its uses have grown, teachers see that it reaches not only future scientists but students with talents in marketing, art, public speaking and other valuable traits. In their greenhouse, students grow milkweed and vegetables which when offered to the public provide funds for continuation of the garden. Some students have gone to County council to advocate for milkweed plantings in public gardens. Others have designed and printed attractive and informative signs for the garden. And all have gotten closer to the intricacies of nature.