If you’re looking for the next generation of environmental lawyers, urban growers and local food chefs in the City of Atlanta; look no further than Wesley International Academy on the edge of Grant Park.

The students at Wesley International Academy are building a depth of understanding  about natural resource conservation through sustainable gardening practices.

With the help of parents and teachers, the students have built an outdoor classroom from bamboo and constructed raised beds from salvaged wood. Also, the garden will soon be covered in natural shade thanks to grapevines hanging over top of a handmade trellis.

Food Well Alliance is thrilled to support a learning garden that emphasizes earth-friendly techniques for growing food. Wesley's Phoenix Garden will add a rainwater catchment system to its hefty list of sustainable pursuits, thanks to the funding provided by Food Well Alliance’s Community & Educational Garden Grant.

From their lively and entertaining garden instructor, Cashawn Meyers, Executive Director of HABESHA - a non-profit organization that cultivates leadership in youth through garden education - students are learning that water is a vital resource to all of nature: humans, animals and plants alike.  Through the new irrigation system, they will see how recycled rainwater can supply the entire garden with its needs.

Wesley's Phoenix Garden has built a comprehensive learning experience for the students that supports grade-level and statewide standards. The garden helps to teach about food sources, the life cycle, our eco-system, aspects of health and nutrition, and supports recycling, reducing, and reusing materials and resources.