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!”