Golda Och Academy Unveils New Wilf Lower School Campus Greenhouse

Golda Och Academy is excited to announce the completion of the new Wilf Lower School Campus Greenhouse. The school celebrated this important occasion with a school-wide Greenhouse Ribbon Cutting in late December with students, school leaders and donors. According to Lower School Principal Carrie Siegel ‘92, “This addition is a tremendous asset for our Garden/Environment program, creating a dedicated classroom and enabling students from Pre-K through 5th grade to sow seeds and grow herbs and vegetables year round.”

Over the past few years, Golda Och Academy saw tremendous growth and interest in the gardening program. During the Covid pandemic, the Lower School garden was an outlet of joy and hands-on learning for students and allowed them to remain socially distant outside, even during the winter months. Recognizing this immense value, Golda Och Academy began plans for a greenhouse to expand the Gardening/Environment program. 

“The Lower School Garden/Environment program is truly learning by DOING,” said Mrs. Siegel. “ As educators of young children, we appreciate that the most impactful learning is hands-on and experiential. At its core, GOA's Garden/Environment program presents our students with the opportunity to get their hands dirty, as they take responsibility for growing their own fruits, vegetables, and plants in a communal space while learning about our responsibility as Jews to tend to the earth and donate to those in need. The Greenhouse will enable our students to experience the joy of this unique learning no matter the weather and to grow our program in even more ways in the years to come.”

Heading up the Gardening/Environment program is Ms. Jul McCormick-Anesh who is celebrating her 25th year at Golda Och Academy and her recent certification as a Rutgers Master Gardener. Since taking on her role as Director of the Lower School Garden in 2019, Ms. Jul has been instrumental in establishing a formal curriculum. Through this program, she has instilled a love of the environment and gardening in students and educated them about the importance of caring for the earth and those in need. Ms. Jul also created a summer volunteer program where GOA families are invited to help maintain the garden, harvest vegetables and donate harvests to local food banks. 

“I am so grateful for this incredible opportunity to have a greenhouse,” said Ms. Jul. “Seeing the smiles on the students’ faces when they come to class and their eagerness to sign up for jobs to help care for and maintain the garden is priceless. The Lower School Greenhouse will ensure that these smiles continue as well as hands-on learning throughout the year.”

The Gardening/Environment program is also an opportunity to teach about food insecurity, Jewish values and the value of sharing. “The Lower School garden has been a wonderful tool for us to connect Jewish values, holidays and Torah with caring for our environment,” said Rabbi Meirav Kallush, Lower School Rabbi in Residence. “We are looking forward to being able to continue this extension of our Judaic Studies using the Greenhouse.”

Rabbi Kallush uses the garden to connect students with the Land of Israel, charity (tzedakah) and learning the plant names in Hebrew. A dedicated section of the garden was also created last year in memory of those who perished from the Oct. 7th massacre. 

Since the Greenhouse project plan was announced in Spring 2022, Golda Och Academy has been fortunate to receive generous donor support as well as support from The Gottesman Fund’s Project Moonshot to help make the Greenhouse a reality. According to Stephanie Bash-Soudry, Director of Institutional Advancement, “We are so grateful to all the caring and passionate donors who invested in our Wilf Lower School Campus Greenhouse and helped to make it a reality. This special greenhouse will provide much joy and many opportunities for student learning and growth all year round.”