Garden Classrooms

Students gain knowledge about vegetables and fruits which may improve attitudes toward these foods and lead to healthier choices and a greater appreciation for how their food is grown. The garden creates an appreciation for teamwork,  patience and responsibility. Students are empowered by engaging in hands on learning and practicing scientific method.

Shaver has a food pantry on-site where there is very limited fresh produce the number one request from families. Shaver plans to engage the entire school in growing food for the food pantry so access to healthy foods will increase; the students will be more likely to eat the produce since they grew it themselves; and the families will feel less stigmatized about using the service since it will be a celebrated aspect of the school. The grant will also open up new possibilities for garden club.

The steps towards achieving our goals are:.1. build a greenhouse that is enclosed with a bear-proof fence.2. add solar panels to the greenhouse as funding allows.3. add an aquaponics system to the greenhouse as funding allows.Our goals are to:.1. spread awareness to the school and local communities of the practices/benefits of organically/locally grown food and how it can positively impact the environment.2. donate seedlings to North Shore senior centres schools and community gardens

The goal of the garden program is to expose students to the origin of their food and factors affecting the production of food. There is a veil among urban students between how our food is produced and the food itself. The purpose of a garden is to help lift that veil so that students would see the connection between food production soil management and sustainability and the inherent difficulties/rewards of growing one's own food while applying current scientific knowledge to the process.