Sanderlin IB World School Peace Patch Garden: 1st Annual Harvest Fest Success!

Welcome gathering in the garden!

After weeks of garden construction, lesson planning, weekend workdays, weekly meetings, teaching the students, and tending to the plants, we wrapped up our first semester at Sanderlin IB World School with the Edible Peace Patch Garden Harvest Fest! With all hands on deck, our committed volunteers served over 500 plates of homemade vegetarian dishes that were supplemented with our very own organic veggies grown in the garden. Friends, families, students, school faculty, and neighborhood members came together to celebrate all that the garden has brought to us this semester as one community. After a delicious sampling of foods, everyone was entertained by plants raffled off from the garden, Jun Bustamante's live performance, singing performances from the students, video and picture mementos, cooking demos, craft projects, and a few words from director and founder of the project, Prof. Kip Curtis. The entire cafeteria buzzed with happiness and excitement! A little bittersweet, saying goodbye to some of our extremely dedicated senior volunteers was hard, but I am so proud to see them graduate Eckerd College and continue to carry the message of sustainability, education, and togetherness beyond the Southside of St. Petersburg, FL.

Volunteer Educators serving dinner

The Harvest Fest stood as a true testament to the dedication and deep compassion for the project shared by everyone involved. I'd like to extend a very special thanks to the faculty and staff of Sanderlin IB World School for asking us to bring the Edible Peace Patch Project into their school, especially Principal Denise Miller, Science Coordinator Charrie Gibson, and Volunteer Coordinator, Traci Pyhel. Also, to the volunteer educators, lesson plan development team, and Garden Manager, Erin Mattick. Without everyone's hard work, the garden would not be changing as many lives as it is. And of course, special thanks to the students of Sanderlin. Your curiosity and brilliant smiles are the reason we are here! Last, but certainly not least, without Prof. Kip Curtis, this project would not be here in the first place. Your determination and revolutionary vision have impacted more lives than you know. Although the garden will be closed down for the summer, with every ending comes a new beginning and I can't wait to see the beautiful things that are brought forth from the garden next semester!

Katherine Schaefer
Edible Peace Patch Volunteer Coordinator

Prof. Kip Curtis, Senior Forest, and Sophmore Noah planting a
Weeping Holly Tree in honor of Nate Mosby.
We all love you and miss you, Nate the Great! RIP