Green Club Project Brings Cross-Divisional Learning to Life Through Sustainable Garden Design

For many students, Green Club begins with a simple interest – gardening, being outdoors, or just trying something new. This spring, that curiosity has grown into something more. Through a multi-week garden project, students across Lower, Middle, and Upper School are working together to reimagine the campus garden, combining hands-on learning with a deeper understanding of sustainability in action. 

Led in partnership with Solene Cornilleau from Concrete Garden, the initiative unfolds across three workshop sessions, each building on the last. The first session introduces hands-on infrastructure work, as Lower School Green Club students and Middle School volunteers collaborate to install a drip irrigation system – an efficient method of watering that supports long-term plant health while conserving resources. 

From there, Upper School students take on a design-focused role. In a dedicated workshop, they explore the use of bioindicators – natural signals from plants and soil that help assess ecosystem health – and begin developing a plan to organize the garden into seven distinct layers. This approach reflects ecological design principles that emphasize biodiversity, balance, and sustainability. 

The following week, the project shifts from planning to implementation. With new plants introduced to the space, students come together to bring design to life – planting, reorganizing, and learning how practices like crop rotation contribute to the long-term health and productivity of the garden. 

What sets this initiative apart is not only the range of skills students engage with, but the way learning is shared across divisions. Younger students contribute through participation and observation, while older students take on leadership roles in design and decision-making – creating a layered learning experience that mirrors the ecosystem they are building. 

“You get to pick what you grow and take it home – it makes it feel really rewarding,” said Sofina, a Middle School student, reflecting on the tangible outcomes of their work. Beyond the immediate experience, students are also beginning to connect their efforts to larger environmental systems.  As Eli, another Middle School student, explained, “By planting and taking care of the garden, we’re helping TAS become more sustainable – and even helping the ecosystem.” 

For Green Club advisors Rosanna Graf, Lower School teacher, and Anisha Vinod, Upper School science teacher, the garden is evolving into a dynamic, cross-divisional space. As Ms. Vinod shared, “What are we building with this garden is a cross-divisional space where STEAM learning and innovation can thrive. Sustainability and environmental systems naturally push students to think across disciplines. The way we depend on environmental resources creates real problems that need thoughtful and interdisciplinary solutions.”  

She added that students are already engaging with these ideas in meaningful ways: “Middle and Lower School students installed  a low-flow drip irrigation system tailored to plant needs for summer resilience, and Upper Schoolers applied to design principles of permaculture to redesign the garden in a way that maximized ecological relationships and minimized human intervention.” 

 “We hope this becomes a space where students notice, question, and start designing. There’s already been strong ownership, and the level of care and curiosity students across all three divisions have demonstrated has been incredible. This genuine curiosity is where creativity and innovation begin, and we are excited to see how this space grows alongside our Tigers.” 

By combining expert guidance, student agency, and sustained engagement over time, the Green Club project reflects a broader commitment at TAS: creating learning experiences that are not only interdisciplinary, but deeply connected to the world students are preparing to shape.