Metro Atlanta principal has been tending to school’s garden amid pandemic

A group of Lithonia educators have returned to school, but not to the classroom. Instead, they are working outside in the garden that they started before the coronavirus outbreak sent them all home for the year.

Marbut Elementary Traditional Theme School principal André Benito Mountain and a small group of volunteers are working throughout the summer to keep their 23 garden plots alive and well, according to reporting from Patch.

“It was a powerful school-wide learning experience, which drew many parallels to growing scholars,” Mountain told Patch about the decision to start the school garden. “In a time when most of our food is prepackaged and over processed, it's important for students to see the entire process of producing fruits and vegetables.”

Now, Mountain has taken it upon himself to make sure the garden is thriving, so all students can see it when they do get to return to the classroom.

“I'm hopeful that when they do come back, they'll see some new things on campus and they'll know that we've been waiting on them, preparing for them to return,” Mountain told Patch.