Our school has several raised beds that can serve as a school garden. However, these raised beds are in rough shape, the raised beds are very old and falling apart. In order to get use out of the gardens again they need to have some work done. With this grant, we will use a portion of the funds from to provide maintenance to the gardens. Once the raised beds are fixed, we will to turn the space into a hands-on learning environment for my students. Our intention is to enable the students to get their hands dirty learning how to grow different types of plants and crops. Many of the students don’t have the resources or ability to work in a garden outside of school, it would be outstanding to enable them to do so through a learning experience. We would like to turn this existing area into an outdoor classroom, including a peaceful place with outdoor seating. This space should be a special place of learning for students, but also a place of peace they can find throughout their school day. We plan to be able to use this area by all classes at Riverside for hands-on learning or as an area to teach a lesson outside in the fresh air.

The purpose of this project is to expose as many students as possible to joys and learning that can be gained through a school garden. School gardens can teach so many things, where our food comes from, the interconnectedness of our environment, and the importance of caring for the nature around them. We plan to connect our school garden through many different subjects including math, reading, social studies and science. I also want the outdoor classroom to become a peaceful space on our school grounds that students can utilize when they need a break or a space that a teacher can use to teach a lesson outside in the fresh air.