Dr. A. R. Lord Elementary

The goal of our garden is to share the pleasures of being outdoors and growing food with our students. Children love being outdoors, with their hands in the soil, looking at different kinds of bugs, watching the seeds they planted growing, and discovering that, in fact, they can eat this growing thing. When students are interested and motivated in the subject at hand, learning comes easy. We believe that the experience and skills that students gain from working in a garden stays with them, and causes them to respect their food and the Earth throughout their lives.

This grant will allow us to invest in better capital equipment, such as a new hose and spray nozzle. It will allow us to hire speakers to visit the classrooms and present topics in their area of expertise. It will also help us launch a new phase in the school garden; an outdoor classroom space including seating areas, a worm composter, mason bee houses and possibly bat houses.

As a school nestled in a residential neighbourhood, the grounds serve as a park, playground and community gathering space for everybody, all the time, not just for students during school hours. An improved garden and outdoor classroom space will benefit our neighbours as well as our students, improving the health of our community not only physically, but ecologically and spiritually as well.