Wellington Middle School

Educating youth about gardening practices, good nutrition and using gardening to expand on classroom education are important outcomes we hope to see as a part of our garden. Our National Green Ribbon School award has encouraged us even more to integrate our outdoor classroom into current teaching practices to enhance the curriculum. Our garden will also be used to address issues around lack of access to fresh produce for residents living in the community around our school. Wellington, Colorado is a rural, ranching town about 1 ½ hours north of Denver. The median income here is $66,000 up from $48,000 in 2000. Even with rising wages, there are families struggling to make ends meet. Our garden would be used to provide additional fresh produce to the local food bank in Wellington and to run a youth-run farmers market in Fort Collins. The market will teach youth important business and social skills as they set up and sell to local residents looking for local, organic produce.