School gardens provide campuses and students with more than just fresh food or beautiful landscaping. They serve as extensions of the classroom, living laboratories, and places for quiet respite. According to the Office of Sustainability, these benefits would not be possible without the dedicated work of campus volunteers who build, maintain, and support these spaces.
The Friends in Gardening (FiG) Award was established in 2023 by the Central Texas School Garden Network to recognize outstanding school garden volunteers. This week, Mary K. Priddy, Education and Outreach Coordinator with the Office of Sustainability and Coordinator for the Central Texas School Garden Network, presented the second annual FiG Award to Joelle Don De’Ville, an Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources teacher at Gorzycki Middle School.
“Joelle is a garden warrior!” shared Carolyn Finkler, Joelle’s nominator and colleague who teaches business, marketing, and finance at Gorzycki Middle School. “Joelle has inspired so many students on campus to volunteer their time to work on developing and maintaining our monarch butterfly garden.”
Through Joelle’s leadership, the Gorzycki gardens continue to flourish. Student groups from across the campus and community—including the National Junior Honor Society, Girl Scouts, and Peer Assistance Leadership and Service (PALS)—have supported the gardens by building stone borders, assisting with planting, caring for goats and chickens, and maintaining overall beauty. Joelle envisions a space where all students can benefit from nature.
“Joelle has also overseen the building of a garden specifically for our Life Skills students that is raised and accessible to all,” added Carolyn. “It’s called AAA: Agriculture for All Abilities.”
When asked where she would like photos taken after receiving her award, Joelle chose to stand in front of the AAA garden. “This is my favorite part of the garden,” she said. “Be sure to get the amaranth in the photo!”
Standing in front of this special garden area, Mary K. Priddy presented Joelle Don De’Ville with the coveted Golden Gnome trophy.
Joelle’s enthusiasm has fostered numerous collaborations supporting her gardening efforts. Creative writing students use it for transcendentalism classes; art program students painted metal tubs for future plantings; each fall Texas A&M Forest Service plants a tree on campus for Texas Arbor Day; every student in her class gets a sapling to take home.
One standout experience from last year was a partnership between Gorzycki’s culinary class and agriculture class students learning about chickens before making egg bites together in their kitchen—a dish one student described as “way better than Starbucks!”
The Central Texas School Garden Network hopes that through awards like FiG they can highlight teachers’ incredible work fostering lifelong learners.
“My students are my true inspiration,” said Joelle. “They are living embodiments of what you sow today; you reap tomorrow.”
As this year’s FiG Award winner Joelle received a $50 Central Market gift card certificate recognition along with Golden Gnome trophy accolades recognizing outstanding dedication towards school gardening initiatives promoting outdoor learning environments benefiting children holistically encouraging others explore greening opportunities within schools through Bright Green Future Grants program involvement.
