{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"Melrose Junior High School","outOfStateSupporters":60.0,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":10436461,"projectId":10099381,"letterContent":"Thanks to your generosity, these hydroponic growing systems have become much more than just equipment in our classroom. They have become living laboratories where students can experience science, agriculture, and food production firsthand.\r\n\r\nBefore receiving these systems, hydroponics was something my students could learn about in a textbook, see in a picture, or watch in a video. Now it is something they can touch, maintain, experiment with, and ultimately eat! Students have been involved in planting, monitoring water and nutrients, observing plant growth, solving problems, and watching small plants develop into enormous cucumber and tomato vines. Our tomato plants have actually grown taller than the hydroponic systems themselves!\r\n\r\nOne of my favorite moments came when our cucumbers began developing. Several students looked at the small cucumbers growing on the vines and asked, completely seriously, \"Why are pickles growing on that plant?\" That funny moment turned into a great learning opportunity about where our food actually comes from and how a cucumber eventually becomes a pickle.\r\n\r\nThe hydroponic systems have also given us opportunities to explore science concepts in ways that are much more meaningful than simply reading about them. We have learned about flowering plants and pollination, including why our particular cucumbers are able to develop fruit without pollination while our tomatoes require pollination in order to produce tomatoes. Students can actually observe flowers developing, identify the structures involved, and then watch what happens afterward. Concepts that might otherwise be vocabulary words on a worksheet become things happening right in front of them.\r\n\r\nThe systems have also introduced students to alternative forms of agriculture. They are learning firsthand that plants do not necessarily need soil to grow. They need water, nutrients, light, oxygen, and support. This has led naturally into discussions about how hydroponics can be used to grow food in places where traditional agriculture may be difficult and how different methods of food production can conserve resources.\r\n\r\nAnother important part of this project has been problem-solving. Living things do not always cooperate with our lesson plans! Students have had to observe plant health, monitor water and nutrients, support plants as they grow, and respond when something does not go as expected. This has transformed our classroom into a genuine STEM environment where students are not simply being given answers—they are observing, asking questions, and figuring things out.\r\n\r\nThe benefits of this project also extend well beyond the students directly working with the hydroponic systems. The produce we grow becomes healthy, fresh food that can benefit students and staff throughout our school. Instead of vegetables traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles before reaching us, some of our food travels only a few feet! Growing produce right here at school also gives students an opportunity to think about food miles, transportation, and the carbon footprint associated with getting food from a farm to our tables.\r\n\r\nPerhaps the greatest impact has been the sense of ownership and excitement the project has created. There is something very different about holding a cucumber that exists because students planted a tiny plant, cared for it, watched it grow, and eventually harvested the food it produced. The hydroponic systems have made learning visible every single day.\r\n\r\nThey have also become part of a much larger agriculture and STEM program at our school. Our students are now able to compare traditional outdoor gardening with indoor hydroponic growing and ask meaningful questions about water use, nutrients, plant growth, sustainability, and the future of agriculture. These systems can be planted again and again, which means this donation will continue providing these experiences to students for years to come.\r\n\r\nThe excitement surrounding what our students are doing has even spread beyond our school. Just yesterday, our local newspaper visited to interview me and several of my students about our agriculture and STEM program. They are planning to publish a story about the project, allowing our students' work to be shared with the entire community.\r\n\r\nNone of these experiences would have been possible in the same way without the generosity of the donors who helped provide this equipment. You did not simply give our classroom two hydroponic systems. You gave students an opportunity to grow food, solve real problems, learn where their food comes from, explore sustainable agriculture, and experience science happening right in front of them.\r\n\r\nAnd, thanks to you, a few more students now know that pickles don't actually grow on plants!\r\n\r\nThank you for investing in our students and helping us grow something truly special.","fullyFundedDate":1776294536066,"projectUrl":"project/growing-lunch-in-our-classroom/10099381/","projectTitle":"Growing Lunch in Our Classroom","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. Acuff","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10436461_orig.jpg?crop=960,960,x0,y240&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1771373324508","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10436461"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_75702","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":72,"numTeachers":4,"percentFrplEligible":44,"percentAsian":0,"percentBlack":1,"percentWhite":63,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":31,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","percentHawaiianImputed":0,"percentMultiracialImputed":2,"gradesServed":"6 - 8","studentTeacherRatio":"18.0:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"RURAL","ncesMetroType":"RURAL_REMOTE"},"inStateSupporters":40.0,"schoolId":75702,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Melrose Junior High School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Melrose Junior High School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/new-mexico/melrose-municipal-school-district/melrose-junior-high-school/75702"}