The gardens need you!
Once a week or once a season, extra hands in a Tuscaloosa school garden turn a plot of soil into a classroom. Students plant, taste, measure, and wonder — and they notice when the community shows up beside them.
Schoolyard Roots runs Gardens 2 Schools at twelve Tuscaloosa-area elementary schools. More than 4,700 students in kindergarten through fifth grade meet in those gardens during the school day. Garden Educators lead the lessons. Volunteers keep the beds tended, the stations moving, and the big public nights possible.
You do not need a horticulture degree. Patience, closed-toe shoes, and a willingness to get a little dirty go further.
Ways to help
Garden lesson partners
Stand with a Garden Educator during weekly K–5 lessons. You might hold a watering can, help a small group count seed packets, or sit with students while they taste something they grew. This is the heartbeat of the program — same schools, same kids, week after week.
Good fit if: you like children, can commit to a regular morning or afternoon during the school year, and can complete a background check.
Bed-tending days
Between lessons, the gardens still need weeding, mulching, planting, and harvesting. Come on your own or with a few friends. These hours are quieter — more soil, fewer clipboards — and they keep the outdoor classroom ready for the next class that walks out the door.
Good fit if: you want outdoor work, a flexible calendar, or a way to help that is not during class time.
Event crew
A few times a year, the work leaves the schoolyard: A Moveable Feast, school family nights, workshops, setup and breakdown. Shifts are short, lively, and full of small jobs — greeting guests, packing produce, running a tasting table, stacking chairs when the last plate is cleared.
Good fit if: you like a bustle, can give a 2–4 hour block, and want a one-off rather than a weekly rhythm.
Bring a group
University of Alabama classes, civic clubs, congregations, and workplace teams already show up in these gardens. A group can take a bed-tending morning or an event shift. Tell us your size, date window, and whether you need the visit to count as service hours. We will match you to a school or a public night that can actually use that many people.
What a school garden day looks like
Arrive a few minutes early. Sign in at the front office with a photo ID. Meet the Garden Educator at the beds. For the next hour you are another adult in a living classroom: hands in soil, questions from five-year-olds, a harvest that might become a tasting before the bell.
Most outdoor work continues in light rain. If the weather is unsafe, we cancel and use the phone number and email you provided on the form.
Before you come
For any time students are present
Complete a background check. Schoolyard Roots will send the current instructions after you apply. Do not show up to a lesson day until that is done.
Wear closed-toe shoes. Choose clothes that can get stained and still look appropriate on a school campus.
Bring a water bottle, a hat, and sunscreen. The gardens are organic — skip heavy chemical bug spray if you can.
Photos and students
Follow the school’s photo rules. Do not post student photos on your own social media unless staff have approved the image. Never use a child’s last name. At the end of the day, share approved pictures with staff and delete student photos from your phone unless we ask you to keep one.
Ready to help
Tell us a little about yourself. A staff member will follow up with next steps — usually a short welcome note, background check instructions if you will be with students, and the next dates that match what you chose.
Can’t give time this season? Donate so the beds, tools, and weekly lessons stay in place.