Vision

Our school is small and rural, but we lacked a direct connection to agriculture. While many of our students live on farms, they have no first-hand connection with growing plants at school. We speak about nutrition and native/invasive species in class, but students lack first-hand experience with the idea. We are also looking to strengthen our connections with Indigenous partners.

Action

This year, we used LSF’s funding to bring two raised bed planters to our backyard. Students from across the school were involved in the beds’ installation. Grade 3/4 students, who learn about native/invasive species in the Science curriculum, were involved in planting and caring for native seeds in one of the beds. In the other bed, the Grade 1/2 students planted donated strawberry plants. Their intention, beyond caring for the plants and learning about how they grow, is to generate nutritious food for their class. Extra berries will be given to other classes or the community; the species of strawberry was chosen because it is native to the area.

Looking ahead to next year, we intend to use one of the beds to grow plants of significance to the First Nations. We have found that sourcing seeds for plants like sage and sweetgrass is not as straightforward as we had expected. We are considering going down another path — for example, we could plant tobacco as a gift for our Indigenous Partners or corn, beans and squash (the three sisters) to generate food and also grow our students’ understanding of First Nations practices.

There has been a lot of interest among staff, students and families. We were able to use some school board funding to cover some of our additional expenses (like soil) and some families have donated time, seeds, etc. Several families have offered their expertise by helping us select a suitable site for the beds or choosing appropriate plants. Another family has offered their help to educate students in raising and caring for the plants.

Reflection & Celebration

Being our first year, our impact has been small but overwhelmingly positive. The students are excited to get hands-on learning, and look forward to seeing their plants grow. The project has also strengthened connections between the school and families. Next year, we look to build on this success and foster stronger connections with our Indigenous partners too. In the long term, we’d like to increase the number of beds to get to a point where we can grow enough food to give back to those in need in our community.