Jesuit High Students Plant Daffodils Downtown

Students at Atlanta’s Downtown Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School took part this year in planting daffodils in downtown Atlanta as part of The Daffodil Project.

Since 2010, The Daffodil Project has worked to create a living Holocaust memorial throughout downtown Atlanta, creating what Downtown Atlanta Inc’s president, A.J. Robinson, calls “a ribbon of consciousness” that begins at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and weaves through downtown connecting to the King Center.

This year, students at Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School participated by planting daffodils together with Downtown Atlanta Inc.’s Clean Safe and Served team and Gibbs Landscaping Co. The student members of the Cristo Rey Garden Club worked side by side with Downtown Atlanta Inc.’s operations team this year to plant 10,000 bulbs to enliven the downtown streets and parks while remembering the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust.

Brandon Render, dean of students, helped coordinate the Cristo Rey participation and used the initiative as a teachable moment with his students. “It is important for young minds across the globe to bring to the conscience the collective memory of the Holocaust tragedy. It was an honor for Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School students to participate in Holocaust remembrance through the Daffodil Project.”

This living Holocaust memorial is shepherded by Andrea Videlefsky, president and founder of The Daffodil Project, who planted her first memorial garden in 2010 with 18,000 bulbs. With its first downtown Atlanta planting in 2013, Atlanta has become the largest participant in The Daffodil Project. The city’s 350,000 daffodils comprise more than a quarter of the project’s global total of 1,241,000 million planted across 779 sites.

The ribbon of daffodils symbolizes unity, resilience, and shared humanity, linking Atlanta’s historic landmarks, educational institutions, and public spaces with places dedicated to civil and human rights. This year was especially meaningful because of the enthusiasm expressed by the young gardeners from Cristo Rey.

The daffodils are the first sign of spring in Atlanta and provide bright yellow pockets of color across downtown welcoming spring — the Daffodil Project invites inspiration and unity through remembrance.

For more information, please visit https://www.atlantadowntown.com/experience/local-flavor/downtown-daffodil-project