Upper Elementary

Lillian M. Dunfee School

The goal for our school garden is to educate the children about healthy, locally grown food that they have a hand in planting and growing.

Canfield Elementary School

The grant will help us build an Outdoor Kitchen in our gardens to improve our nutrition lessons. Students will:
*Cook with food from the garden
*Participate in cooking lessons with local chefs
*Learn healthy recipes to share with their families

Carl Schurz Elementary

We have recently established our Healthy Lifestyles Committee at Carl Schurz Elementary. It is our goal to show our kids a what it means to live a healthy life. Our garden plays an important role in accomplishing this goal. Nearly 18 classes (approximately 20 students per class) receive training from local Master Gardeners once a month. They are working towards a certification "Growing a Vegetable Garden Specialist." The garden provides an outdoor learning environment and a place to foster a love for nutritional heath, science and math.

Walter M. Schirra

Our goal is to propagate the “SEEDS” (Schirra is Exercising, Exploring and Digging for Success) program no later than the end of May 2015. All 355 regular and Special Education students will be given the opportunity to be set into peer buddy classes. They will absorb the garden’s natural beauty while being actively involved with the curriculum. Students will water, weed, experience, and learn about the rocks, animal and plant life that they will grow through their grade level curriculum. We hope to lead them towards a lifetime commitment to physical activity and good health.

Dicken Elementary

Our school’s edible garden is called the Dicken PLANT Garden. PLANT stands for ‘Planting, Learning, and Appreciating Natures Treasures’. Our main goals are to:
• Educate students on living healthy & growing organic food
• Teach students to respect & care for the earth and each other
• Provide students with a hands-on way to learn lessons that complement curriculum and beyond.
• Be a model for families that may want to explore growing their own produce

Center for Inquiry III (CFI 27)

Our goal as a school garden committee is to provide the students with the knowledge and understanding about the benefits of growing your own food and how to collaborate as a community. We want to use the garden as an education tool that will serve as a unique way to get the students involved in nature and teach them the rewards with working together for a good cause. Being a city school, there are many kids who are malnourished and have NO idea about healthy eating and healthy lifestyle.

Harding University Partnership School

Our goal at Harding University Partnership's School Garden is to immerse each and every one of the students in the five pillars of Explore Ecology's Garden Education Program: Planting, Harvesting, Cultivating, Composting, and Nutrition. With the assistance of the Whole Kids Grant we will have the capability to purchase garden supplies for an after-school garden club devoted to students who are fervent about digging into garden education.

Pleasant Ridge Elementary School

The goal of the garden is to give students the opportunity to taste a variety of fruits and vegetables and ideally increase the amount of consumption of those items. Students would also gain a sense of responsibility, learn a life sustaining skill that could improve quality of life, and provide another way to learn their academics. Responsibility would be gained by being assigned a job in the garden. Life skills will be acquired by participating in the garden development and upkeep.

Southwood Elementary School

Southwood Elementary School is a true “neighborhood school,” serving 350 students from pre-K to 5th grade in suburban Old Bridge, New Jersey. As part of our “Sustainable Southwood” school-wide initiative and community partnership, our school has made a steadfast commitment to promoting character development with an emphasis on social and environmental responsibility.

Robert Drummond Elementary

Living in a lower income community, I see the relation between poverty and poor health. As a health coach, mother of a student at this school, and girl scout parent and volunteer, I get an up close and personal view of this relationship. A few instances my daughter, (Olivia, 5th grade) has come home with some health information she got at school, excited and educating us on what to do and what she learned. My goal is to set up a nutrition education class that comes with the garden experience in our school, and maybe even in our school district.

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