Lapham Elementary School

Our goal is to offer outdoor experiential learning opportunities in order to encourage exercise and healthy eating; expose students to the concepts of sustainable living and conservation; connect students to the natural world to inspire appreciation and respect for nature; encourage the integration of garden activities into classroom curriculum; and build community.

This grant would help us continue to fund our gardener-in-residence next year. While our school garden was founded in 1998, we have only had a gardener-in-residence since 2010. We have found this role to be essential in the sustainability of our garden as a structured outdoor classroom as it provides the critical link between our garden and students. Students gain access to the garden because teachers can rely on the gardener-in-residence to plan and coordinate structured activities that integrate their curriculum goals, vastly improving the likelihood that they will schedule regular classroom visits to our school garden.

This program is supported by Marquette Lapham Parent Teacher Group Inc..