St. Margaret’s engaged in building a garden at each San Juan Capistrano location of Orange County Head Start recently, a continuation of the school’s All-School Service Learning Project this spring. 

 

The garden build was completed by 10 Upper School students, joined by division Directors of Community Life Lora Allison, Kylie Middlebrook with Early School Outdoor Classroom teachers Jennifer Hardison and Erika Garcia, and Director of Equity and Inclusion Victor Cota. In addition, Lower School leadership students led by Lower School Director of Community Life Tupper Spring packed the school van with supplies and materials to deliver to OCHS sites for the build. 

 

Remarkably, over 30 two-cubic-foot bags of planting soil were utilized. The plants used were mostly planted during cross-divisional pairing time earlier in the semester and were maintained by each division, with consistent care in the past weeks allowing these plants to stay healthy until they could be transferred into the gardens at the OCHS sites. 

Early School teachers Dr. Hardison and Ms. Garcia also dedicated time to working with OCHS teachers on utilizing the garden with preschool-aged students, and St. Margaret’s will continue participating in sustaining the gardens in partnership with the OCHS community into the future. 

 

The All-School Service Learning Project is an annual springtime activity that brings the school community together around a shared purpose in service to the local community.

 

As part of this year’s partnership with Orange County Head Start, St. Margaret’s families donated more than 180 items to launch the organization’s garden curriculum—essential supplies such as kid-sized shovels, gloves, watering cans, seed packets, wagons, garden-related books for young children and more.