Trinity’s garden program is an important part of the Trinity curriculum in nearly every discipline at all grade-levels. Students turn to the Trinity gardens for projects related to math, social studies, science, service learning, written expression and art. As part of the development of the whole child, the garden program also helps us teach interdependence and personal accountability, engages students in activities that require cooperation and vital interplays among their peers and imparts important life skills such as integrity, dependability, planning, nurture, initiative and the value of hard work. Trinity’s garden program encourages students to expand their appreciation for the living world and provides an opportunity for them to develop an understanding of the need to nurture life and establish community relationships.

>  Kindergartners grow vegetables then count and weigh them as part of their math program before donating them to local hunger coalitions. We always end up with a tasty harvest!

> First- and second-grade students tend to our gardens in Jamie’s Courtyard, hummingbird/butterfly gardens and maintain bird feeding stations to study local birdlife as part of their science studies.

> Third-grade students study hummingbird migration as part of their science and social studies curriculum. They also plant tulip bulbs (using their rulers as a depth guide, of course!), as part of a cooperative project with students all over the world to determine when soil temperatures are warm enough to spark the growth of the tulip.

> Fourth-grade students plant a North Carolina vegetable garden in conjunction with our Social Studies and Science units exploring and learning about our state.

> Fifth-grade students place a special emphasis on ecology and conservation of our natural resources.

> Middle school students participate in an ongoing project to create a marshland habitat as part of their earth science studies.

How about an outdoor science laboratory right on Trinity’s campus?

Middle school students are busy turning a portion of the Trinity campus into the Trinity Rain Garden. As rainwater lands on asphalt, buildings and other vegetation, it collects pesticides, fuels and other chemicals, eventually carrying them into our community’s creeks and streams as runoff. The Trinity Rain Garden is designed to collect and filter this runoff from our parking lot and other areas, filter and remove the pollutants and then feed the marshland habitat below before the water eventually reaches the Little Sugar Creek Greenway.

 Students will learn about stewardship of our environment, water quality, the hydrodynamics of flowing water and earth materials, as well as soil and mineral elements and their interaction with the water molecule.

Students at all grade-levels have contributed to the major achievement of Trinity’s certification by the National Wildlife Federation as a “Schoolyard Habitat.”