15 Schools Receive Grants to Grow School Gardens

The Idaho State Department of Education is awarding $30,000 to help 15 schools across Idaho build school gardens, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna announced. Each school will receive a grant of $2,000 to build a garden to promote nutrition, science and agricultural education.

“Through these grants, Idaho students will be able to roll up their sleeves and learn valuable, hands-on lessons about nutrition, math, science and many other subject areas,” Superintendent Luna said.

With this grant funding, schools will implement a wide range of innovative educational activities, from outdoor classrooms to service-learning projects. The schools receiving grants range from public schools, private schools, and even the alternative high school that is part of Southwest Juvenile Detention Center.

The grants are funded through the State Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs Team Nutrition grant so nutrition education must be a part of every school garden plan. Since school cafeterias are allowed to serve food grown in school gardens to students, the schools are encouraged to partner with their school foodservice personnel on these projects.

The State Department of Education will work with these schools throughout the year to create a best practices guide that other Idaho schools can use in future years if they want to incorporate a successful gardening program into the school curriculum.

The following is a list of the 15 schools receiving school garden grants this year:

• Arco Elementary School, Butte County Joint School District
• Barbara Morgan Elementary School, McCall-Donnelly School District 
• Boise High School, Boise School District
• Challis Elementary/Junior/Senior High School, Challis School District
• Clearwater Valley Elementary, Mountain View School District 
• Dietrich Elementary/High School, Dietrich School District
• Greenleaf Friends Academy, Private School, Greenleaf
• Harrison Elementary School, Kootenai School District 
• Lillian Vallely School, Private School, Fort Hall Indian Reservation  
• Meadows Valley School, Meadows Valley School District
• Paradise Regional High School, Moscow School District
• Pat Anderson School, Southwest Idaho Juvenile Detention Center
• Skyway Elementary School, Coeur d’Alene School District
• Troy Elementary School, Troy School District 
• Willow Creek Elementary School, Nampa School District 

Idaho awarded school garden grants to 11 schools in 2008, and these schools have seen great success as a result.

~ Melissa M.