Students in the program plan, plant, harvest, and distribute fresh garden produce to the school kitchen, the culinary arts program, and The Open Door food pantry.
The mission of our garden project is to provide an outdoor space that energizes engages & enriches our students while providing encouragement for responsible eating and reduce childhood obesity. We envision our new space to have the following components: education for proper eating a vegetable garden an outdoor reading garden a play space with social games & a nature trail. Being an Expeditionary Learning school we would use the space to enhance our lessons around our key design principals.
Our goal is to create a peace garden aligned with the school's Montessori principles. This will mean plots dedicated to produce but also places committed to butterflies birds and specific beneficial bugs a place for water and a space for reflection. We intend to involve each of our classrooms and all of our students in the gardening process and would ultimately like to serve our produce in our cafeteria. The grant will help us get the garden fully established with the appropriate tools.
This garden grant will allow us to strengthen ties to student families and the general community. Our hope is to teach our students how to grow fruits and vegetables in our region and to educate their families to do the same. We also hope to teach our students and their families about good nutrition choices.
The primary goal for our garden is to create a space where our students can not only learn about where their food comes from and help cultivate produce but also create a space where all of our school's therapy focuses can merge into one therapeutic learning environment. Each therapy group and class level will have access to this space and be able to create specific programming to incorporate gardening skills and education concerning cultivation.
The grant will allow us to expand our garden projects which were created to inspire students to grow harvest prepare and appreciate fresh organic food..By expanding the gardens we create more opportunities for more students and community members to become involved we make more local fresh food available and we build more skills and more community capacity.
Our garden goal is to teach students and their families how to garden in an urban setting how to provide nutritious foods on a budget and the linkages between good nutrition and school success.
HPC plans to assemble and install an indoor growing lab at Childs to showcase indoor gardening and seed starting techniques in order to enhance the teachers ability to meet science-based academic standards. Another primary interest of HPC is to provide exposure to the health benefits derived from the garden in both the indoor and outdoor context.
Our goal is to build a small "farm to table" garden kitchen to hone our students understanding of the garden lifecycle and help them consider the nutritional components of what they eat. By preparing simple fresh food we will impart the value of healthy eating and exemplarize the delights of gardening to our students and community. The garden kitchen would also be used to help host school events. The school's only existing kitchen is a closet with microwaves for warming food and a fridge
The goal of the school gardens is to teach students where their food comes from and how to grow it sustainably. The gardens serve as outdoor learning labs where students can learn through hands-on experiences that draw on a variety of subject matter. The food grown is used for taste testings in the school lunch program and in health classes thus improving the nutritional quality of the food as well as making healthy eating appealing. Produce is also donated to local food pantries.
