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Goal

Begin Phase 1 of growing herbs and vegetables for the GGHS Culinary Academy and Student Body Cafeteria to use in the dishes they prepare for the student body. This phase will include creating rich soil with compost and worms that the environmental science classes will create over the coming months, so they can enrich the largely-sandy soil that will be used in Phase 2 of the project - starting the garden itself in raised beds that will be accessible to all students. Phase 3 will include an expansion of the agricultural program, including hydroponics, a greenhouse, and a certification program tied to sustainable agriculture. This project will provide our Title 1 school with organic, local food used by a student academy to feed other students in the short term, and a pathway to a career via certification for our environmental science students who will begin and grow the program in the long term. Additionally, the students at Mike Davis Elementary School will be invited to the high school every spring to see what the high school students have done, hear presentations given by the high school students, and create make-it-take-it projects (ex - planting a seed in a greenhouse made from a plastic bottle that includes compost made at the school) reflective of the successes GGHS students have experienced that year.

Along the way, students will see their class standards in action as they explore the nitrogen and carbon cycles, sustainable agricultural practices, weather patterns, ecological footprints, sustainable waste management, and how even a small group of individuals can effect a positive change on their community. And given that Golden Gate High School is debuting a new on-level environmental science class in Collier County, this is an experience that could be duplicated in every local high school that chooses to implement the program into the new curriculum. 

What will be done with my students

Currently, four teachers oversee 14 sections of on-level and AP Environmental Science students, in grades 9-12. Each teacher and their associated classes will be in charge of one outdoor compost bin and one indoor vermicomposter. The project will be an ongoing one. The general timeline is as follows:
1. Receive composters, vermicomposters, red wriggler worms, and starter material for the vermicomposters.
2. Research the types of materials that can and cannot be composted.
3. Secure assistance from Culinary students and cafeteria staff to set aside food scraps appropriate for composting.
4. Secure assistance from teachers to set aside paper scraps appropriate for composting.
5. By mid-October 2020 - establish pickup routines for food and paper scraps, as well as routines for maintaining compost bins and vermicomposters; with the help of the Culinary Academy Chair, establish where the future garden will be situated
6. Remove compost as it is formed, and worms as they multiply, to work deeply into the soil in the area set aside for the garden

If the composting and and vermicomposters produce excess amounts of enriched soil, worm castings, and worms before they are needed for Phases 2 and 3, we will pursue selling the excess to local gardeners so funds can be raised earlier to purchase the raised garden beds, seedlings, and fencing needed for the school gardens.

The following topics are a part of the new environmental science curriculum:
Nitrogen Cycle
Carbon Cycle
Food Webs
Food, Soil and Pest Management
Water Cycle and Water Use
Air Pollution
Climate Change
Solid Waste
Environmental Action

In practically every unit, and within the topics listed above, teachers and students can travel just steps outside of their courtyard classrooms to see principles discussed in class play out on our campus as we naturally recycle scraps destined for the landfill into useful, organic soil that will enrich our campus land, our food, and our understanding of what it means to live sustainably. And once the certification program is in place, students will be able to put these hands-on experiences on their resumes so they will be career-ready right out of high school.
 

Benefits to my students

1. Deeper understanding of key state standards as listed in earlier sections.
2. Civic service - beautification of campus.
3. The satisfaction of hard work producing goods that will be used by fellow students.
4. Practice teaching younger generations about sustainability.
5. Marketable skills in agricultural and soil sciences.
6. A hands-on activity that can be completed safely outside, reducing COVID-related risks currently inherent in other indoor lab activities

This grant will directly impact the 300 students enrolled in on-level environmental science, AP environmental science, and the Culinary Activity. Indirectly, students who eat any of the herbs or vegetables produced by the Phase 2 gardens will benefit from the crops each year, and students who visit from the nearby elementary school will benefit from learning about sustainability and gardening from high school students. The 3-phase project will also be written into the on-level environmental science curriculum as a yearlong project that touches on almost every unit in the curriculum. 

Budget Narrative

Components were carefully selected so that they could also be used in Phases 2 and 3 of the project. For example, the selected shovels are sturdy enough to last well beyond the three-year development of the on-campus garden classroom. All selected vendors have been used personally by the lead teacher. 

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