The GTC Grant is Sponsored by:
2014 Challenge Winners
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Congratulations to the students at Kapowsin Elementary in Graham, Washington for winning the 2014 Green Thumb Challenge grant!
Watch this video about their amazing project.
GEF received many grant applications from across the country. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who submitted an entry as every garden was unique and demonstrated the amazing things that happen when children are connected with nature!
Be sure to read about the garden projects of the finalists, listed to the right.
How Kapowsin Elementary will use the grant award:
- Purchase dahlia tubers and other perennials that we can grow and then divide and sell at our annual Spring Garden Sale. All monies generated from this sale go into a special dedicated garden fund with our PTA and then are used to buy things that wear out such as greenhouse plastic or hoses, gloves, tools, weed whacker string, trellis material, etc
- Install an additional water hydrant--we have two so far but our garden is so large that a third hydrant would be ever so helpful. Cost is at least $200.00.
- Purchase cedar lumber for additional raised beds and/or picnic tables so the students can enjoy lessons or lunch in the garden
- Buy a tool to make wood burned signs that the children would create to welcome visitors with positive messages such as “May All Who Enter, Come With Peace In Their Hands And Love In Their Hearts.”
- Labelling supplies so that we are able to both keep track of what varieties of fruits, veggies and flowers we are growing and in order to educate the community on same.
- Drip irrigation supplies so that we can conserve even more water than we already do.
- Establish a bamboo garden so we can grow our own trellising supplies
- Expand our herb garden or establish a tea garden
Lifespan Montessori
Athens, GA
We were inspired by SECA's challenge to create this outdoor classroom space and this prompted us to engage the community (several businesses donated supplies and resources and continue to do so for our garden), create ongoing opportunities for parents to be involved (e.g., regularly scheduled gardening days and farm days), and most importantly, improve the outdoor learning environment for our children enrolled at Lifespan. Because Lifespan is the first preschool in Athens, GA to achieve the "Green School" title, we receive in-kind and monetary donations from Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful (www.keepathensbeautiful.org) on a continuous or as needed basis.
Our motivation for starting our garden in 2009 stemmed from the importance we place on children having the opportunity to care for live plants and the environment, which are inherent in our school's mission:
Lifespan strives to embody Montessori ideology in the early education of our students. Our mission is to provide a loving environment wherein every child can feel comfortable, safe, and open to explore new horizons. Hands-on approaches are used to care for the environment through tending to live plants and animals, as well as recycling, composting, and resource conservation. Youth enrichment programs are centered on the arts and the celebration of various cultures. Above all, our mission is to encourage students to care for each other.
By incorporating school gardens into our curricula, the children learn about the nutritional properties of the foods that plants produce and even incorporate the fruits and vegetables into classroom meals and snacks that they prepare. In the summer months, the children are able to learn about mathematics and currency exchange when they sell their produce at our school Farmer's Markets. Moreover, the children learn about water conservation and recycling rainwater in their gardening projects using water from rain barrels (donated to us by our county water conservation office). Because recycled materials were also donated to the school's garden, the children learn about re-purposing materials that are no longer needed for their original purpose (tires, for example, that can now hold flowering and other non-edible plants). Lastly, children are able to learn about supporting our local businesses. Many of the live plants used in our garden were obtained by parents and children who visited local nurseries prior to our gardening day.