As you know, the school takes frequent excursions on fridays, and for the first jaunt this year they were determined to explore the new neighborhood.
There is a garden here called the Jones Valley Urban Farm. They have moved to a larger patch downtown now, but they started out on a half acre lot just off 23rd Street, and behind Alabama Art Supply. One of the school's parents runs Nomad Supply, just across from the now fallow abandoned garden. He is a very compassionate and generous man, and this summer he undertook bringing that lot back to life as a community garden. (The Southtown Urban Housing Community borders the lot, and he want the residents to have a place to put their hands in the dirt, and help grow and harvest organic produce.)
So, first stop on the excursion was an hour pulling weeds in the newly defined beds.
There was a complaint or two ("I would rather be doing math sheets!") because it is August and this is Alabama. But the majority dug right in. They are used to hands on exploration of the local geography. As often as not you will find the different classes outside, walking down the block or all the way downtown.
The next stop, after a long trek to the other side of Highland, was Rojo, the local latin/american watering hole. Rojo is packed 365 days a year because the food is great, it's inexpensive, and you can sit outside. But they had no trouble absorbing thirty something students for corn dogs and quesadillas.
Back down the avenue to the Highland Store where everybody got candy or an ice cream, then a slow stroll home to First Lutheran.
That, my friends, is a good day at school.
