The Fayette County Master Gardener’s Association is helping a Rising Starr Middle School teacher with a grant to keep up gardening efforts that have grown from one simple vegetable and flower garden into several gardens used to teach students many different subjects.
Teacher Holly Monahan started the first garden as an outdoor classroom where her students could not only learn about plant science, but also mathematical concepts, as well as work on their communication and teamwork skills.
Over the years, Monahan, her students and their parents have seen their gardens flourish and even expanded the idea to include a Monarch Butterfly Garden.
Now the Fayette County Master Gardener’s Association is helping with maintenance and upkeep costs through a $300 grant award. The money will be used to purchase a wheelbarrow, composting bin and perennial Milkweed.
Rising Starr Middle is one of eight benefactors receiving funds from the association. McIntosh High also received a grant for its gardens, along with Plant a Row for the Hungry, the Junior Master Gardner program, 4-H summer camp, Veterans Memorial Garden, Fayette County Citizen Garden, and Southern Conservation Trust.
Shown in the picture are Fayette Master Gardner Association members Myriam Cousins, president; Art Ayers, treasurer; and Vauna Bellury presented the grant check to Rising Starr Middle principal Nancy Blair, teacher Holly Monahan, and students. (L-R): Students James Long, Alice Cooler-Masucci, Katie Allen, school principal Nancy Blair, teacher Holly Monahan, Fayette County Master Gardner Association members Vauna Bellury, Myriam Cousins, and Art Bellury, students Katie Petersen, Madison Holloway, Samir Ibrahim, paraprofessional Ginger Phelan, and student Nathan Hinkle.
