South Whidbey Elementary School

Our goal is to integrate garden-based curriculum into core curriculum standards while growing produce for school lunches. By imbedding a teaching garden into a working farm, we foster a deep understanding of connections between soil, plants, food, work, growth, the larger community, and our own health. In our first season, we delivered over 600 pounds of fresh produce to our Chartwells-managed cafeterias and are on track to have all elementary school grades participating by February 2015. https://whidbeyschoolgardens.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/students-learning-... We are the first school district in the nation to satisfy Chartwells requirements for use of school produce in their school lunches. A next step is to involve students more in harvesting produce for classes and the cafeterias. This grant will facilitate construction of a covered harvest and processing/washing area with hand washing station, designed as a working educational environment.