Gerard Elementary School

This project is a unique collaboration between Gerard Elementary School and Hill College (a 2-year college). Biology students from Hill will assist the elementary students in installing and maintaining raised bed gardens on the Gerard campus, while also teaching them how to use available recycled items such as pallets, cardboard, newspaper, and trash cans in order to create gardens, compost bins, and rain barrels. Hill students will also create guidance books for each plant, teaching organic methods for weed and pest control, planting, and fertilizing. In this unique collaboration the college students will gain a hands-on application of their plant biology curriculum and the elementary students will gain a hands-on outdoor science lab for learning STARR required topics, as well as gaining a source of nutritional food. The grant will afford us the opportunity to make this project possible by providing funds for organic compost, seed starts and trees, and gardening/fencing supplies.