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Garden Gate Homeschool

Garden Gate Homeschool is an organization of educated and passionate instructors offering a breadth of quality a la carte class options with an emphasis towards free thought, self-sufficiency, agriculture, and sustainability.

We provide upper elementary and middle school classes on a variety of subjects including foreign language, music, hands-on academics and clubs. Our extracurricular experiences such as BETA club, dances, field trips, and fall pictures give our students opportunities to practice leadership skills, build community, and deepen their learning.

Research shows that children are happier, healthier and more attentive when outdoors. With these benefits in mind, Garden Gate classes are a combination of indoor and outdoor learning. We partner with homeschool families to ensure that our students  have everything they need to explore, socialize, engage and grow from a worldview that is playful, ecocentric, humanitarian, and inspired by nature.

Questions? Email us: camps@ourgivinggarden.org

Register your student now:

Judy Byler

Judy is one of the founders of the Giving Garden in Mableton, GA. Judy is a Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist with her Masters Degree in Nutritional Sciences. She has a background in journalism, working at the Independent student newspaper in College. She has a passion for making nutritious foods available to everyone, teaching, writing, traveling, and spending time her friends and her family.

Abby Redmond

Abby has been a proud member of the Garden family since 2020 in a variety of capacities. She graduated from Parsons School of Design with a BFA, and attended O’More College of Art and Design  After many years as a Costume designer/design assistant Abby and her family moved to Smyrna where she created Art With Ms Abby, Shake n’ Create to serve the local community. Abby is also a watercolor artist focused on nature.

Abby enjoys making art for herself and with her two sons, homeschooling, spending time outdoors, gardening and volunteering in the community.

Matthew Doherty

Matthew was born in New Jersey to the best family on the planet, studied Sustainable Agriculture and Ecogastronomy at the University of New Hampshire, and couldn’t be more grateful that life plopped him down at Our Giving Garden. Working for the Garden and its community has changed his life, and has allowed him to learn and grow in an environment that challenges and empowers him. Matthew wants to spend his life working to connect people to themselves, each other, and the Earth through facilitated community experiences- and he gets to do that 5 days a week thanks to OGG. Matthew likes art, dirt and games

Christy Ralabate

Christy has a B.A. in Journalism and an M.A.Ed. in Education. She has taught all levels of students, including university-level Academic English in Ecuador (South America) for young adults and diplomats, and she is fluent in Spanish. She has worked with the refugee and immigrant communities in Stone Mountain and Clarkston through AmeriCorps. In her free time, she is obsessed with music – especially going to live shows that feature punk/feminist/queer bands. She has several online blogs and runs an Etsy shop where she publishes Feminist/Queer mini-magazines (ezines) and stickers to promote women in music and sports. She has played bass guitar, electronic keyboard, and trumpet. She also loves Art, and her favorite creative outlets include constructing mixed-media collages and any type of fabric or fiber arts (sewing, embroidery, cutting the sleeves off of her rock band tees, etc.).

Julie Rickerson

Julie is a dedicated and passionate mother, educator, and maker born right here in Smyrna, GA. She grew up as the oldest of ten siblings and developed homesteading skills naturally to support the family. Whenever she was able to grow fresh vegetables, pick berries for jams, prepare pickles for the next season, make Halloween costumes, or even create crafts to sell at the local market fair, it was an exciting accomplishment. From an early age she has been involved in both learning and teaching a wide variety of skills, from cross-stitch to making balloon animals.

After spending 20 years in corporate life, while simultaneously earning a Bachelor’s degree from Mercer University and switching careers, she chose to step away to focus on her family. She spent some time exploring hobbies and took a variety of local classes where she discovered her love for fabrics and quilting. She is also an avid cook, canner, sewist, and crafter.

Julie started bringing her daughter Violet to Our Giving Garden activities almost as soon as she could walk. She enjoys the opportunity to give back to her community, so you will find her participating in creative events and teaching classes for both children and adults locally.

Jenn Fletcher

Jenn is an educator, wildlife conservationist, artist, and homeschooling mother. She has a fine arts degree, and is also professionally trained and certified in areas of early childhood education, environmental education, CPR & first aid, sustainability and conservation, and zoonoses & wildlife handling. She currently balances her time between homeschooling her own child, working in the art & science fields, volunteering in her community, and road-tripping the US. Jenn also has a passion for herptofauna (reptiles and amphibians), and has worked in wildlife research (permitted) with loggerhead sea turtles, a variety of freshwater turtles, diamondback terrapins, salamanders, and frogs. She loves bringing her real-world experiences into the classroom in fun and engaging ways.
Jenn has previously taught classes at Our Giving Garden through partnerships with another program, and will be joining Garden Gate Homeschool this year as a guest instructor, and leading the Conservation Club.