We are a small school in a rural setting. We have earned Gold twice for EcoSchool Audits and are very active for the Earth. Many of our students come from farms and value eating nutritious food.
We learned about edible mushrooms in our local environment. Students went on field trips to pick them. We also grew mushrooms in our school garden and took them home to grow, as well. The mushrooms flourished on the growing media (old denim pants and soggy cardboard).
Every other Thursday our entire school brings a “litterless” lunch. Students are randomly inspected and awarded prizes for bringing a lunch in reusable containers. Our Green Team has described a significant decrease in waste and recycling materials on these days.
Every week, students in our ISP classroom help prepare food for our daily Breakfast Program. These students help shop for the best deals on nutritious snacks at the local grocery store. As well, ISP students help chop, organize and store the food. ISP students are learning about nutrition, budgeting and money management through their involvement.
Each class in our school plants vegetables in our school garden. This fall we have been eating fresh produce while outside. Some of the vegetables we have enjoyed are kale, lettuce, carrots, yellow beans, green peppers and peas. We have a patch of mint that children eat during recesses.
The SK/1 and Kindergarten class pick the vegetables and set up a market for others to come and “trade” an item for a vegetable during recesses.
