We have over 90 great gardeners in our gardening club; however, all 310 students can participate during school hours in gardening if their teacher chooses. Another teacher and I started up our school garden club last year, Lincoln Green Thumbs. We meet up to two times a week to learn about gardening, composting, conservation, cooking with our produce, etc.
We keep their attention by varying our activities by using both indoor and outdoor classrooms.
Our small southern Indiana school is a school-wide Title I facility in which funds are limited. Our school is made of kindergarteners through fifth graders. We have two special education classes and fifteen regular education classes.
Our community has a 40% obesity rate, and we're working hard to change that starting with our students! Therefore, we are teaching our students how and why to grow their own food.
My Project
We dream BIG at Lincoln Elementary School! Lincoln Green Thumbs is a K-5 after-school garden club that was started last year because two teachers wanted to dream BIG. In the last year, we have added a Phase 2 outdoor garden with 26 raised beds for our fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers for pollinators; an orchard with 14 fruit trees; a 3-bin composter, and an outdoor shed. We have raised our school state academic achievement and growth grade from a “B” to an “A”. The kids, staff, and parents are excited about that!! Research proves that children gardening and participating in nature activities not only raises test scores, but also a multitude of other positive benefits.
We would like to add seating for our students, mulch around the raised beds, several bird feeders, and a couple bird baths.
I have also designed a webpage for teachers who are interested in starting a student-centered garden at their school. We would like to turn our nature center into more of a student-centered learning environment so that they can sit while learning and enjoying nature. Our students are loving what they’re learning. The seating would add space for children to just read in nature. The bird feeders, feed, and baths would encourage birds to visit as well. The landscaping fabric, staples, and mallets will help with the mulching in this area. These birds will help pollinate the children’s fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Children can learn more about nature while being in nature setting. Although we have big plans, we are taking it step by step due to fact that we have to raise all the funds on our own. Thank you for reading about our next step! A special thank you to The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation!
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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