Once a semester, classrooms at City Garden School– located within Karis Church – are left empty as chalkboards are brought outside and kids attend classes amid the falling leaves.
A creek forms a natural border and there’s plenty of space for students to run around at Camp Takimina, which is located north of Columbia.
The camp becomes the schoolhouse during a 3-4 week intensive during the Fall and Spring and once a week every Friday, as weather permits.
City Garden has a curriculum inspired by a Waldorf education model, and according to the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, this model is focused on integrating arts into learning and making students lifelong learners.
Jordan Johnson, the Head of School at City Garden, said teachers take what they like about Waldorf and incorporate it into the state curriculum.
“So, third grade is in a structures and dwelling unit and so they will actually get to build, I think it's like an adobe hut with the materials out here,” Johnson said. “So, we're taking what is given, what's here available to us. We're turning it into a lesson, so then they have a real personal connection to the materials.”
She added that City Garden prioritizes teaching students things that can be practically applied to their day-to-day lives, like handworking.
“I think it's something that has kind of, in our society, lost its value to a lot of people. We understand the importance of that, especially environmentally, mending, sewing and taking care of what we've been given and reusing versus purchasing new,” Johnson said.
Wanda Hoffman is the Camp Takimina president and she’s also “Grandma” to Logan, a student at City Garden.
“It's hands-on, it's in the woods, and it's nature,” Hoffman said. “It's knowing why the trees are that color. It's not [looking] at a picture of trees in a book. You could probably anyone from third grade on up and they could tell you every edible plant, stump or berry in the wood.”
This focus on nature also comes with a tie to the land, and by incorporating hikes and campfire circles into its day-to-day, City Garden asks students to consider their connections to the world around them.
Camp Takimina was originally a camp used by the Camp Fire Girls and now serves as a community space that can be rented out.
Hoffman said community support is a major part of what keeps the camp running.
“Mostly it's all volunteer work and through city gardens, some of the parents have to do volunteer hours to, you know, they have scholarships, and they help by doing that and they've been a tremendous help,” Hoffman said.
This nature intensive ended on November 3, 2023, and chalkboards were wheeled back indoors, but students will still venture out every Friday, as long as the weather permits.
For the full transcript of the audio story, click here.
CORRECTION: In a previous version of this story, Wanda Hoffman was called the executive director of Friends of Takimina. In reality, she is the president of Camp Takimina.
