There’s a lot happening in the garden at Denver Green School Northfield – where students are collecting worms for compost bins, reinforcing a chicken coop roof or wheeling barrels of soil into freshly dug beds. While the space itself has been part of the school since it opened six years ago, the transformation it’s undergone is rooted in students’ hands, and often starts in the classroom, where most of the plants begin as seeds. So far, the garden has grown around 6,000 pounds of food, which have been distributed to “pay-what-you-can” markets and food banks.
That hands-on work is supported and guided by Nick Zuschneid, the teacher behind the school’s gardening elective and the mentor for the Climate Champions program – a group of middle school students taking on real-world sustainability challenges. With Nick’s support, the team meets during lunch and some recesses to identify issues their garden faces, brainstorm solutions and apply for grants that help expand and improve the school’s outdoor learning space.
“I’m really proud of them,” Zuschneid said. “They’ve done an immense service to our program here.”
The garden itself already features rows of garden beds, a robust tool shed, a barn stocked with hay and enclosures for a pregnant goat named Marshmallow and several chickens–including Miss Frizzle and Barb–resources the students help maintain as part of their rotating tasks during their gardening elective.
Their latest project, the creation of a new agroforest, was made possible through a student-written grant that secured funding for fencing around the new area of land. This area will grow into a self-sustaining system where fruit trees, low water plants and grazing animals work together to restore soil health, conserve water and provide fresh food for the community.
Projects like the agroforest reflect a larger shift–students aren’t just participating in the garden, they’re shaping its future. Whether it’s managing compost, researching new planting methods or designing systems that care for the animals, their work is layered and ongoing. These efforts stretch well beyond the school day, with some students, like Climate Champion Maddox Mehringer, volunteering extra time and taking on responsibility that mirror real-world environmental leadership. Maddox also created the detailed budget summary that helped secure the Climate Champions grant – an essential step in bringing the agroforest project to life.
For many students, the garden also offers something less measurable but just as valuable: a break from the typical school day. It’s a space where they can slow down, work with their hands and connect with something tangible.
“I get to breathe a little out here. It’s low stress, no tests,” said eighth-grader Vivian Howell (pictured above in pink). “I’m learning just as much as my other classes, but in a different way.”
Vivian is an active member of the school’s Climate Champions program and recently wrote a separate grant to fund a houseplant sale – an effort designed to teach lessons on healthy eating and sustainability while raising money to reinvest in the garden. She said her experience in the program has boosted her confidence, deepened her connection to the environment and strengthened her desire to become an environmental scientist.
Looking ahead, the garden team is tackling key next steps: securing hay and maintenance supplies and hiring consultants to dig swales that will help manage water flow in the agroforest. Hundreds of trees will be planted in the agroforest in mid-June. Over time, they hope to fully activate the agroforest by introducing milking goats and expanding egg production– fresh offerings that would support the community’s “pay-what-you-can” markets and SustainEd Farms, a nonprofit co-founded by Matt Suprunowicz, who also teaches at Denver Green School Northfield.
This summer, the school hopes to partner with SustainEd Farms to host a fundraising event featuring baby goats, adopt-a-tree opportunities and ways for the community to get involved in the garden’s continued growth.
Check out our photo gallery of Denver Green School Northfield’s garden.