OUR team

Sarah Voter

Executive Director
Sarah has lived in the 12 South neighborhood for nearly twenty years. Growing up in a rural area, she had the opportunity to learn about growing her own food from an early age. She has owned several businesses in the food industry over the years, in addition to her work for local and corporate natural foods stores. She has also served as the Operations Manager for a number of local businesses. Sarah’s guiding passion in her work is to bring safe, sustainable, natural foods to her local communities. Her favorite thing about working with Plant the Seed is the opportunity to help children connect to their food and its origins.

Hannah Fletcher-Page

Garden Education Facilitator at Cambridge Early Learning Center
Hannah Fletcher-Page comes to Plant the Seed with a lifelong love of growing and creating collaboratively. With a background in theatre and youth development, she believes in sharing and creating a better collective narrative in our schools, homes and communities. When we can work to teach children how to grow things and care for themselves and others we are building that better story together. Hannah grew up gardening and farming with her parents and grandparents. When she got the chance to start growing a garden with her own daughter she renewed that connection to her heritage and the soil. Hannah wants to help ensure that future generations will have this access to ancestral knowledge to build healthier and more connected communities. She is excited to be facilitating at Cambridge Early Learning Center in the richly diverse Antioch area.

Dargan Eley

Garden Education ELC Curriculum Coordinator
Dargan Eley joins our team with over ten years of teaching experience in elementary and middle school Spanish. She grew up in Golden, Colorado, where she cultivated a lifelong appreciation for nature and the outdoors. She enjoys the numerous and tangible benefits that come from a "rain or shine" attitude towards being outside. In the last five years Dargan has merged her passions and has gained a new hobby in gardening. She has an appreciation for the entire process; from learning about what grows well to sowing the seed to harvesting the ingredients for a meal shared with friends and family. She is excited to share that enthusiasm with her students.

Brenda Huff

Garden Education Advisor, Explore Community!, Ross ELC
Brenda grew up surrounded by apple orchards in the Fingers Lake region of New York. There she developed a passion for nature and outdoor activities that she has incorporated into a 35 year career in education. She's so excited that her professional path has led to Plant the Seed! Having worked in a variety of settings as a classroom teacher, administrator, and service-learning director, Brenda’s role as advisor combines her interests and experience as a lifelong learner and educational leader. Plant the Seed’s mission resonates with her love of experiential learning as well as her commitments to participating in caring community and practicing environmental sustainability.

Melia Arnold

Partner-Facilitator at Explore! Community School
Melia believes that when kids are encouraged to dig in the dirt, experience the natural magic of growing a plant by hand and nurturing it into an edible product ensures their connection to the land and their learning, while better connecting them with one another. She is reminded daily, of the joys and wonders of the outdoor world through the eyes and hands of her 5 and 7 year old.

Jessica Chilous

Ross ELC & Cambridge MNPS ELC
Jessica is a Memphis born, Nashville bred mother of six children, who through home educating them over the last decade grew a passion for implementing gardening and nature based learning through hands on education and participation. She grew up witnessing her Father’s gardening and has been creating home gardens for many years with her family, teaching life lessons and helping others with beginning their own. She comes to Plant the Seed with a love for seeing children be more aware of nature, its healing properties, as well as experiencing and having access to fresh garden goods. 

Em Berkey

Ivanetta H. Davis ELC
Em or Emma (they/them) is a community herbalist and educator with herb, flower and vegetable farming experience. They are also a songwriter and a Jewish spiritual lay leader in their community. They love to garden, arrange flowers and spend time with their dog. They are passionate about building connections between plants and people and are very excited to be with Plant the Seed!

Melinda Baker

Rosebank STEAM Magnet School
Melinda believes that gardens are where we can heal the human-nature relationship. Born and raised in Nashville, she comes to Plant the Seed with a passion for protecting the ecosystems and biodiversity that define Middle Tennessee. Over the years, she has worked as a college writing instructor, academic success coach, and freelance arts writer for various publications. She received her Tennessee Naturalist Certification in 2020. She is excited to empower Rosebank students to creatively engage in the joys and wonders of nature study, community building, and healthy, sustainable food production.

David Hartung

Rosebank STEAM Magnet School
David grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education in 2009. Since then, he has taught for urban districts such as Philadelphia and New York, and volunteered for community gardens such as Brooklyn Heights Community Garden in North Nashville. David enthusiastically advocates for the transformative and cross-curricular potential of project-based garden education.