Capitol Encore Academy teacher cultivates passion for planting in students By Gary Mangum | Photography by Tony Wooten
M
ost people see an alley as a pathway to get from one place to another. Or a dead end that leads nowhere. A place that is stark, with little beauty, atmosphere and personality.
But Aikeem Leigh saw so much more, and has made an alley off Anderson Street in downtown Fayetteville into something special.
Aikeem Leigh started the Alley Garden Project in 2021 and uses it to teach students about gardening.
Aikeem is a 2nd-grade teacher at the Capitol Encore Academy located on Hay Street. He has been teaching at the school for five years, four of which he has spent instructing 3rd-grade math, and is a longtime gardener who envisioned the alley off the Capitol Encore Academy, as a spot to grow flowers and vegetables.
has since expanded to serve students in grades K–12. It’s housed in the historic Capitol Department Store building that was established in 1921. The department store, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, closed in 1990.
“I enjoy planting. I enjoy teaching others how to plant,” said Aikeem, 35. “There’s something therapeutic about putting your hands in the dirt.” He wanted to teach the students, and anyone else who was interested, the art of gardening. When he started the garden in 2021, “it was just a blank slate, absolutely nothing,” Aikeem said, later encouraged by the school’s Superintendent Gerard Falls to create what Aikeem later named the “Alley Garden Project.”
The beginning Helping Aikeem get the garden started was Fredalene DeNoble, a 3rd-grade teacher at Capitol Encore Academy. The two shared the same plan for the space, Fredalene said. “We had a vision of an outside teaching space/garden,” she said. So the two filled up planters and boxes. “We took a day and built and constructed the garden,” Fredalene said. “I painted the garden boxes and made sure that the colors were bright and cheerful. We successfully opened the garden with benches for people to sit.” The school’s visual arts middle school students designed a mural for the alley, Falls said, and stemming from that came Aikeem’s idea to start the garden. Aikeem put together a crowdfunding campaign to get all the supplies needed to complete the project, Falls said, after which students and volunteers helped get an initial garden started.
“In order to get a charter you have to have a specific mission and focus. Ours is arts integration,” Falls said. “What that means is that arts are treated as an equal to math and science and reading. In addition to having a lot of arts classes that our students take, the arts are also co-taught along with the core academic subjects.” The Capitol Encore Academy is not all about test scores, Aikeem said. “We incorporate the arts into a mainstream curriculum,” he said. “We want to make sure that our students are being assessed not just based on their ability to take a test, but they’re being assessed on their overall knowledge of the concept so that requires a real-life application.” The garden is his classroom and a means for hands-on learning.
Reaction to the Alley Garden Project The citizens of Fayetteville appear to be responding to the alley garden. “We have 4th Friday downtown. People come through here all the time when the garden is in full bloom, and they come and take pictures,” Aikeem said. Vibe Gastropub is a vegan restaurant located across the street from Capitol Encore Academy at 131 Hay St., Suite 101. As one of Capitol Encore Academy’s neighbors, Vibe Gastropub appreciates the core themes of the garden. “I think it’s great especially with people moving towards sustainability, growing their own food,” said Val Humphrey, the restaurant’s assistant manager, “and, as someone who lived in the city and didn’t have a yard, I like the idea of learning how to grow things in the city.”
The Capitol Encore Academy
Fredalene hopes that others will cherish the view.
Capitol Encore Academy is a public charter school that is tuition free and any student in North Carolina can attend, Superintendent Falls said. The school was first established in 2014 with grades K–5, but
“This brought me so much joy to see the joy the children had watching their plants grow,” Fredalene said. “This is a great project for all to enjoy.” n
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