Reviewed by: Sharron Swain
Oliver Elementary School has a new outdoor classroom, complete with a teaching farm + more
Reading time: 3 minutes
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Last week, volunteers from multiple organizations including United Way Hands On, took part in the Birmingham Sprouts Project. Over three days, they built an outdoor classroom and more for students of South Woodlawn’s Oliver Elementary School. We were able to join them, see what it was all about and learn how the school will benefit.
What is BHM Sprouts?
BHM Sprouts is a fundraising effort led by corporate leaders in the Birmingham Metro area that met through the Project Corporate Leadership (PCL) 2022-2023 program. With help from United Way Hands on Birmingham and Jones Valley Teaching Farm (JVTF), volunteers raised money and did the heavy lifting to complete a new teaching pavilion at JVTF’s Teaching Farm at Oliver Elementary.
One of the teachers was out helping and told us how special this project will be for students and faculty at Oliver.
“The outdoor classroom means everything. It is the center and the hub of all of our gardening and nutrition education. Having a space that can hold more students and let them spread out their materials in the shade is so important.
We can facilitate more conversations about what it means to nurture your body, what it means to grow nutritious and healthy food, and also just have a safe space for our students to get outside and learn.”
Big news for Oliver Elementary
Henry J. Oliver Elementary serves more than 500 pre-K–5th grade students each year, and is a part of the Woodlawn High School pipeline.
JVTF has seven teaching farms across the Birmingham area that exist to deliver food-based education so that young people can lead, create and grow a healthy future for themselves and the community, through in-school and after-school programs.
The farm at Oliver allows students to have an expanded curriculum, and this new classroom sets the bar even higher. Thanks to the hard work of last week’s volunteers, here’s what students can now enjoy at the farm in the backyard of their very own school:
- a new awning for amphitheater seating
- a refrigerator
- lockable teaching stations to protect supplies and experiments
- new raised planter beds with proper draining
- picnic table seating
- + more
“This is going to help our curriculum, enhance our students’ social and emotional learning and do so much for our scholars here. We are so grateful.”
Tamara Burney, Principal, Oliver Elementary School
Get involved with opportunities like these
I don’t know about y’all, but learning stories like this makes me want to get out into the community and make a difference. United Way Hands On always has opportunities for anyone looking to volunteer, from Meals on Wheels to family service days and more.
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