Fern Creek Elementary School

Fern Creek Elementary School is a Title 1 school located in Orlando, FL.  The school has a population of approximately 330 students, with 85% of students on the free/reduced lunch program and 20% of the population considered homeless.  The school takes every elementary school student currently living at the Coalition for the Homeless.  We have 10 raised bed gardens on campus which are currently planted by our 1st graders, 2nd graders and 5th graders.  We're growing tomatoes, watermelons, pumpkins, peppers, bok choy, carrots, beans, strawberries, celery, herbs and flowers.  The teachers incorporate the garden into lesson plans for math and science (among others), as well as to help with disciplinary issues.  The kids love seeing what they've planted.  At the end of the growing season, the students harvest their produce and eat it ... often times exposing them to foods they have never tried before.  This year, one of the 2nd grade classes planted a pizza garden and the teacher will grill mini-pizzas for the students. 

Every weekend, we send 278 weekend food bags home with our students to help cover their food needs during the weekend.  The bags contain a variety of hearty, shelf stable foods.  Eventually, the school would like to increase the amout of produce grown to be able to incorporate fresh fruits and veggies into the weekend food bags.