Above and Beyond: Garden Coordinator Melissa Tracy brings school gardening to new heights

This spring we give a huge shout-out to HFHK garden coordinator and high school social studies teacher Melissa Tracy from Odyssey Charter School! In partnership with HFHK, she expanded the Odyssey garden by 24 raised beds with plans to expand in the courtyard post COVID-19. Beyond HFHK's raised beds, Melissa added vertical containers and an indoor hydroponics system to enable year-round growing.

In spring of 2019, the garden produced over 300 lbs of produce, 70% of which was donated to local food pantries.

Most recently she volunteered as a panelist for our webinar as part of our Food For Thought Series. Her multi-faceted approach for touching students lives through gardening was an inspiration to both educators interested in starting and expanding upon existing school garden programs. Melissa and her green team have planted the garden this summer and continue to make produce donations.

In the future, Melissa plans to have a paid summer internship program with opportunities for students to engage in caring for the gardens along with the school chickens and goats. We can't wait to see how she'll keep this garden growing!