Torrence Rothmiller, principal of Andrew Hamilton School, lent a hand as students and volunteers planted fruit-bearing trees and shrubs around the periphery of the campus (Photographer: Eric Sucar)
On a November afternoon in 2021, dozens of members of the school community encircled the school building, digging holes, adding fertilizer, and situating berry bushes and fruit trees—peach, plum, cherry, and native pawpaws. The “food forest” planted that day is part of a transformation at Hamilton, galvanized by the community in partnership with a student-led team from Penn.