We have worms in our cafeteria. Thousands of them. It all started last year, with our first Donors Choose project - two very basic worm composters. Our elementary school gardening program wants to expand its cafeteria composting program. We need your help.
The students in our elementary school gardening program are vibrant, out-of-their-seats, get your hands dirty, kinds of kids.
They are doers, and relish opportunities to leave seats and bubble sheets behind and experience science first hand.
Our school is located in a small, rural town in the Northern Catskills of New York. Over 60% of our students are eligible for free or reduced meals, and many have food needs that are not met at home. While we are surrounded by countryside, mountains, and farmland, the majority of our students do not have gardening experience.
Our program - Green Thumb Growers Guild - seeks to promote gardening; fresh, local, and healthy food; horticulture education; and exposure to sustainable practices that demonstrate care for the earth and humans alike.
My Project
The 10 worm composters will be housed in two cafeterias in our school. When students are finished with their lunch, they will take their trays and empty food waste into special collectors in the worm composting center. A rotation of participating classes will manage the composting center, making sure that food waste is put into the worm composters with a proper balance of covering material.
The gardening program students will ensure that the composting program is operating correctly, and visit classrooms to teach other students about what happens when food composts, how the worms assist in the composting process, and how compost can be used in gardens and agriculture.
Our gardening program experimented with worm-composting last year. We composted cafeteria food once a week, and took the food waste outside to the worm bins. This created such an enormous interest that students inquired about expanding the program to composting every day in both cafeterias.
We're trying to create a model program in our region as a school that produces little waste in its cafeteria, grows some of its own food, and has a student body that knows how to make healthy food choices.
The worm composters requested for this grant can help us achieve an student-led, ambitious zero-food waste program at our school.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Gray and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.