Hall County School District — Blogs

By Yaza Sarieh

Yaza Sarieh is the Community Collaborations Coordinator at Georgia Organics.

At Georgia Organics, we believe that growing a healthier future for Georgia’s children starts with fresh, local food and hands-on learning. That belief inspired the launch of our Farm to School Innovation Mini Grant: an initiative that supports our broader mission to grow a network of advocates who champion organic agriculture and invest in sustainable, community-rooted food systems.

Through a competitive selection process, our 2024 grant awards prioritized projects that:

Increase access to local, fresh, organically grown food;
Provide culturally responsive food and nutrition education;
Foster organic and sustainability-focused garden education;
Expand local food procurement; and/or
Support Certified Organic Georgia farmers in other ways.

Hall County Schools exemplify these priorities in action. With support from the Farm to School Innovation Mini Grant, three schools in the district—Friendship Elementary, Sugar Hill Elementary, and Wauka Mountain Elementary— revitalized school gardens, engaged in sustainability efforts, and deepened their connection to locally produced food, impacting over 1,200 students.

At Friendship Elementary, staff have been building a school farm from the ground up. A new chicken coop, built in partnership with a local Eagle Scout, supports agricultural education, composting, and animal husbandry. One of the long-term goals for this space includes launching a student-run farmers market, empowering students with real-world entrepreneurship skills, and a deeper understanding of where their food comes from.

*pc: Courtesy of Hall County School Nutrition*

At Sugar Hill Elementary, educators transformed an overgrown greenhouse into a thriving learning environment. With guidance from the district’s agribusiness specialist and a local Master Gardener, the team prepared the garden beds and worked with local distributors to procure seeds and materials, laying a foundation for sustainable growth and local food integration. The students shared the produce they grew with their families as well as school staff.

Wauka Mountain Elementary piloted a cafeteria composting program to reduce food waste and enrich garden soil. They also installed a water feature to attract pollinators and improve garden biodiversity. Their student-led garden club took ownership of the garden with presentations and active involvement in planning and planting.

In addition to growing food, Hall County has been growing relationships with local farms, produce distributors like Royal and Linear Produce, and community volunteers. The district has recognized the need to bridge the gap between schools and farmers who aren’t yet affiliated with produce organizations, reinforcing their commitment to expanding local procurement and making fresh, Georgia-grown food more accessible to students. Their list of local farms and other sources of local food has grown from just two in 2023-2024 to 13 in 2024-2025!

From compost bins to chicken coops, these projects show just how much can grow when you invest in local food, student leadership, and sustainable agriculture education. We’re proud to support Hall County through the Farm to School Innovation Mini Grant, and we’re excited to watch their farm to school program continue to blossom.

To learn more about Hall County Schools’ Nutrition Department, visit foodservices.hallco.org/web/ or follow them on Facebook (facebook.com/hallcountyschoolnutrition) and Instagram (@hallcountyschoolnutrition).

To learn more about Georgia Organics, visit georgiaorganics.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

By Yaza Sarieh

Yaza Sarieh is the Georgia Organics Community Collaboration Coordinator.

Georgia Organics, the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) and Newman’s Own Foundation have partnered for the second annual Farm to School Innovation Mini Grants. These funds support farm to school initiatives in eight Georgia school districts that:

Increase access to local, fresh, organically grown foods
Include culturally responsive food and education

Include organic and/or sustainability focused garden education
Increase local food procurement
And/or benefit Georgia certified organic farmers in other ways.

To learn more about the Farm to School Innovation Mini Grant, click here.

We are pleased to highlight mini grant awardee: Hall County School District. Horticulture teacher, Michelle Conable, has been using the mini grant funds to develop farm to school efforts at the Newcomer Academy.

Image courtesy of Michelle Conable, Hall County Schools

The Ivester Early College, a college dual enrollment campus, provides a unique learning opportunity for New American students by hosting the Newcomer Academy program at their Jones Learning Center. This program invests in New American students by preparing them for life in the United States and developing their talents and skillsets. The Newcomer Academy consists of nearly a third of the school’s population, with most students from countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico.

Michelle Conable, an educator in the Newcomer Academy, noticed the impact of food insecurity on the student’s’ health and well-being. A 2020 study by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) found that in the United States, nearly 59% of New American households' experience ‘not [having] enough food to eat’, a number that ‘jumps to 78%’ for households with a family member who is an American, migrant, and/or immigrant seeking status. For New American families, not having enough food is a result of economic hardships in the face of head of households working to provide and the challenges they are navigating with social services like SNAP. In addition, many of their new US communities lack culturally relevant foods available close by.

To address these challenges, Michelle developed more garden education opportunities for students at the Newcomer Academy. This curriculum would foster a sense of community, while creating access to and excitement for fruits and vegetables. Michelle applied for funds from the Farm to School Innovation Mini Grant to purchase the plants and gardening supplies that would make this program possible.

Many of the students already know a little bit about farming or gardening from their home countries and have transferred their knowledge to their new community through this project. Although the garden lost some crops this year due to weather, they were able to learn from the experiences and change their approach accordingly. Some of the fruits and vegetables students encountered here are different from their home countries, but they also grew some produce that was more familiar to them. For instance, while visiting a plant sale, one student was ecstatic to find a plant that is used for medicinal purposes in their country. The gardening project has provided a meaningful chance for the exchange of cross-cultural knowledge and appreciation.

For students at the Newcomer Academy, the garden project has given them the ability to connect more with their new community and to make their own food choices. Fresh fruits and vegetables are not usually available in the school cafeteria. However, the Newcomer Academy’s Garden has helped to change that by supplying the cafeteria with some of the produce from their garden. Students even used their harvest to make Pico de Gallo which was shared with the community.

The project at Newcomer Academy has shown the significance of gardening education for New Americans. It is a means for folks to connect with their roots while growing into their communities. Keep up the good work, Hall County!

To learn more about Hall County School District visit www.hallco.org or follow them on Facebook and Instagram (@_hcsdofficial).

To learn more about Georgia Organics visit georgiaorganics.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube by searching (Georgia Organics).

Farm to School Innovation Mini Grant Spotlight: From Garden Beds to Cafeteria Trays – Hall County Champions Local Food

Farm to School Innovation Mini Grant Spotlight: New American Students in Hall County Connect with Their Roots