MUG co-founders, Carol Dorsey and Pat Hall, lead a STEAM lesson at George Hall Elementary School.

Pat Hall, MUG co-founder, leading students in planting in the garden beds at Florence Howard Elementary School.

Students at Craighead Elementary School painting with clay paints.

Since 2023, the Mobile Urban Growers team has been bringing classrooms outdoors with “Garden Clubs” through funding and support from the Fuse Project and the Amp Up Arts program. Amp Up Arts is a statewide effort to bring art education to preK-12 schools through supporting local collaborative sites, including our local area’s site operated by Mobile Arts Council. Through this programming, MUG was able to return to George Hall Elementary and Florence Elementary for a second year and begin programming this year with Craighead Elementary.

Kathleen Kirk Stoves, Amp Up Arts Site Director with Mobile Arts Council, shared that, “I am thankful for the passion and dedication MUG brings to each of our partner schools, and they afford our students opportunity to grow and learn through excellent STEAM centered lessons.” STEAM lessons integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. The MUG team taught multiple sessions focusing on how and why things grow and then led students in hands-on “crafting” of their own masterpiece of vegetables, fruits, and herbs within their school’s garden beds. Students also had fun creating earth-produced art projects like painting with clay paints.

From this teaching, MUG aims to provide access to gardening to students who may have limited resources, inspire environmental stewardship, and encourage continuous education on nutrition and the natural world that they may share with their own families. We have heard from the schools’ staff we are meeting several of these goals. When asked about the programming, Dr. Tiffany Friday, Principal, George Hall Elementary School remarked, “We love them {Mobile Urban Growers}. The kids love them. We want them to keep coming here and we’re excited to have them back!”

Volunteers removing vegetation to realign plant bed cinder blocks at Taylor Park.

Geared up in garden gloves and tennis shoes, over 100 students and parents from St. Paul’s Episcopal School hit community gardens across the City of Mobile on the morning of October 16th, 2025. Volunteers prepared gardens for the fall across the following Mobile Urban Grower (MUG) network gardens: Taylor Park’s community garden, University of South Alabama Medical Museum’s medicinal garden, Craighead Elementary’s school garden, Trinity Episcopal Church’s community garden, Central Presbyterian Church’s community garden, Dauphin Way’s United Methodist Chruch’s community garden and pumpkin patch.

Volunteers removing vegetation from Taylor Park plant beds.

Volunteers prepared gardens for the seasonal shift by removing vegetation, mowing grass, realigning garden bed cinder blocks, and more. These tedious tasks were completed across all 6 properties within two hours. MUG co-founders, Pat Hall and Carol Dorsey note, "These students are amazing! They come prepared to work hard and hit the ground rolling. We couldn't do what we do without the help from St. Paul's students. It is a wonderful gift to our gardens and our community.” MUG and St. Paul’s partnership started in 2016, marking this year as the 9th year of their service to the gardens. When asked why the gardens were chosen out of all the service opportunities out there, Leslie Lerner, Director of Community Service at St. Paul’s, stated, “At St. Paul's Episcopal School, volunteering in community gardens helps our students connect learning with service. As they grow and care for plants alongside neighbors, they cultivate responsibility, empathy, and a deep respect for the environment - living out our mission of stewardship and community engagement.”

Check out our resources page to find out the best ways to prepare your own local garden for the season change and what you can still be planting!

View images from work at the other gardens below: