This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Think back to the first time you got your hands dirty as a kid. Maybe you were "helping" grandpa in the garden like I was. Maybe you were planting with mom. Maybe you were just digging in the corner of the playground. Think of how exciting it was. My students need that.
My students grow up in a high-needs urban environment.
My garden club comes together every Tuesday and Thursday to dig in the dirt a little. My garden club is a mix of special education and honors students, and a few in between. This semester, my club is all boys. They are full of energy and love to get outside.
They were recently give a worm bin. We are all still trying to figure out exactly what it takes to get this squirmy little worms to make some nice rich compost. My garden club is so excited about their new worm friends. When you are a 12-year-old boy, there is nothing more exciting than a giant box of squirmy worms.
Our school is undergoing a lot of change. Test scores are steadily improving. We are making a lot of progress, but my students need to be able to understand where their food comes from. They need to understand why it is important to compost.
My Project
My students need supplies to get our garden up and running for another year. We need a cultivating fork to help get our compost pile outside turning. We need to till up some dirt to plant another plot. We also need a new garden hose that can easily be stored in the classroom. This will allow us to not spend half of garden club hunting for the person with the key to unlock the room with the schools garden hose.
My students also are at varying reading levels. My students need books about gardening and worm composting. I've found that kids will struggle to read a book more when they can immediately apply what they are learning in the book. The books I've ordered vary in reading levels. This will allow all of my students to be challenged and engaged in the composting and growing process.
Every semester my garden club starts afraid of the dirt, and the bugs, and the fresh fruits and vegetables.
By the end, they are excited to go outside and try the new produce. They love to get dirty. They love to sit and stare at the bugs. I hope that this group will be able to add reading about gardening to the list of things they love!
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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 Ms. A. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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