Two grants will give local schools the opportunity to build gardens to promote healthy living as well as project-based learning.
The Southwest Early Childhood Center and Trinity Lutheran Elementary in Jefferson City will receive a $250 grant from Central Missouri WeCan! Coalition, which works with schools and communities to encourage health and wellness.
SWEC Classroom Aid Paula Spencer said they plan to use to money to add a butterfly garden, utilizing two of the 10 garden beds the school already has. Down the road, they would also like to expand their current garden.
In the past, the principal brought in caterpillars and the students watched them evolving into butterflies. Having the garden is a fun, hands-on lesson, she said.
"The (students) like it," Spencer said. "They pick some of the vegetables and the cooks prepare it, so the kids can try it."
They grow tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, flowers and sometimes pumpkins. Once they have the grant money, Spencer said, they plan to add a drip irrigation system, a bird bath and more flowers for the butterflies.
Mary Huhmann, a seventh-grade teacher at Trinity Lutheran, said the school decided to apply for the grant after completing a self-assessment of what could be improved. Health was one area they wanted to strengthen, she said.
Huhmann plans to take seventh-grade students to a working farm and start the garden next school year. She estimates the total cost will be about $1,000, which they hope to acquire from grants or donations.
"A lot of our students haven't grown anything before, so we want to go to a farm and see what we need for the soil and what will grow during the school year," she said.
Aside from the nutritional benefits of having a school garden, she said the garden will double as an outside classroom to learn about plant and soil science.Two grants will give local schools the opportunity to build gardens to promote healthy living as well as project-based learning.
The Southwest Early Childhood Center and Trinity Lutheran Elementary will receive a $250 grant from Central Missouri WeCan! Coalition, which works with schools and communities to encourage health and wellness.
SWEC Classroom Aid Paula Spencer said they plan to use to money to add a butterfly garden, utilizing two of the 10 garden beds the school already has. Down the road, they would also like to expand their current garden.
In the past, the principal brought in caterpillars and the students watched them evolving into butterflies. Having the garden is a fun, hands-on lesson, she said.
"The (students) like it," Spencer said. "They pick some of the vegetables and the cooks prepare it, so the kids can try it."
They grow tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, flowers and sometimes pumpkins. Once they have the grant money, Spencer said, they plan to add a drip irrigation system, a bird bath and more flowers for the butterflies.
Mary Huhmann, a seventh-grade teacher at Trinity Lutheran, said the school decided to apply for the grant after completing a self-assessment of what could be improved. Health was one area they wanted to strengthen, she said.
Huhmann plans to take seventh-grade students to a working farm and start the garden next school year. She estimates the total cost will be about $1,000, which they hope to acquire from grants or donations.
"A lot of our students haven't grown anything before, so we want to go to a farm and see what we need for the soil and what will grow during the school year," she said.
Aside from the nutritional benefits of having a school garden, she said the garden will double as an outside classroom to learn about plant and soil science.