Sarah Jane Spiers

Sarah teaches science to kindergarten through third grade at The Lovett School in Atlanta, GA, where she reclaimed a greenhouse that had been empty for many years. Soon students were planting seeds and watching them grow! She serves on the school wide Sustainability Committee and leads in the planning of Earth Week activities. Placing “piggy composters” on the playground encourages all students and teachers to compost leftovers from fruit. Sarah includes a service-learning aspect in the second grade science curriculum where students plant and tend raised beds of vegetables which they donate to a nearby shelter for women and children. First graders learn about sustainable agriculture in communities around the world by participating in Heifer International’s “Read to Feed” program.

— Proposed by Cherokee Garden Club (GA), Zone VIII
 

In recognition of your remarkable work in combining the best aspects of gardening and science as you teach kindergarten through third grade students at The Lovett School in Atlanta, Georgia.  You have reached above and beyond your job description to manifest passion in the hearts and minds of a new generation of horticulturists, philanthropists, gardeners, environmentalists and sustainers of our great earth. Proposed by Cherokee Garden Club, Zone VIII