Broadview-Thomson Garden Build
A person in a blue t-shirt scoops soil out of a yellow wheelbarrow held by another person in a blue tshirt.

With a mission to support youth in the areas of housing, health, hunger, and education, RSM and KidsGardening have been working together over the past year to help maintain youth gardens across the country and host a youth garden-build event in Seattle, Washington.

First, in June, more than twenty-five RSM offices volunteered in their local communities at youth garden spaces. Volunteers weeded, planted, and helped with general garden maintenance.

Then, on August 15, 2024, KidsGardening and RSM co-hosted a garden build event with Seattle Public Schools at Broadview-Thomson K-8 School in Seattle, Washington. During the event, more than 80 volunteers transformed an unused concrete area into a school garden and outdoor classroom.

Broadview-Thomson K-8 School, a before and after shot of the garden structure installed on concrete.

The garden now includes eight raised beds, two arched trellises, six benches, one work table, a worm bin, an herb bin and a garden shed. Volunteers also helped landscape the front of the school and picked up trash around the campus and nearby neighborhood.

Around noon, when the teams finished their projects, we stopped to celebrate the garden space and admire the transformation! Then, after a lunch fuel-up, a handful of dedicated volunteers finished constructing the garden shed. Around 1:45 pm, with everything packed up, the build was completed!

A couple weeks after the event, the teachers and administrators spent the end of their back-to-school professional development time out in the garden space. First, they received a garden tour and heard more about the build event, and then they shared what this garden means to them and how it will be a tool for learning this upcoming school year.

"Our students are thrilled to have a new outdoor learning space where they can take care of living things and enjoy a garden with all of their senses!” shared Broadview-Thomson’s assistant principal, Karma Jensen. “Staff members are also thankful for this gift; not only will our students have an alternate space for learning but they also learn stewardship, have a calming break space, and take pride in our campus.”

With students back in school, the garden has become a place for hands-on learning, exploration, and connection.