Sponsors

Welcome to DIGGS! Where Discovery Is Growing Gardens at Simis!  DIGGS is a volunteer run program designed to engage students in hands-on activities grounded in science education.

Join us September 26th at 7:50am in the main garden for our volunteer orientation.

2025-2026 DIGGS
Our amazing PATS (Parents and Teachers at Simis) board is currently working on a garden renovation. Improvements include irrigation, raised beds, accessible pathways, and more shade! Target for completion is mid-October.

Beginning in the Fall 2025, Simis will kick-off a refreshed DIGGS program, offering students the opportunity to experience full growing cycles, more flexibility for teachers and volunteers, and healthier gardens.

All Simis classrooms will meet every other week for DIGGS throughout the entire school year, and all students will receive a DIGGS journal. Each session, students will spend time journaling, tending to their garden, and growing seedlings.

• Journaling
  • Record observations, inquiry, findings, and thoughts 
  • Draw pictures of plants, bugs, or other things found in the garden
  • Measure and record growth
  • Cut and paste resources inside journals for ongoing reference, such as the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Maricopa County Garden Planting Calendar for Fruit and Vegetables, a garden maintenance checklist, and things plants need to grow
• Garden Maintenance
  • This might include watering, weeding, pest and disease monitoring, pruning, debris removal, harvesting, planting, checking irrigation systems and replenishing mulch
• Growing Seedlings
  • Start and monitor class seedlings
  • Track growth of sprouts in journals

We encourage all interested in participating in DIGGS to attend the volunteer orientation on September 26th at 7:50am in the main garden. 

If you have questions, please email diggs@simispats.org or feel free to reach out to anyone on the DIGGS team: Sada Gilbert, Danielle Ludwig, Danielle Coates, Arian Ploszaj, and Alissa Sperry.

Ready to get involved?