$500 – Mountain Roots Education
Youth Philanthropists partially funded Mountain Roots Education’s proposal to secure fundamental garden supplies for Victor Elementary School in order to build and establish a school garden on school grounds. As the garden program continues to develop, students will need gloves, wheel burrows, and shovels to engage with the space. The garden program delivers hands-on, experiential learning for students to expand their minds.
Mountain Roots will accomplish building out the garden area as a whole with the school. These tools and resources will help make students comfortable and successful during the process. As the garden program and Victor Elementary School grows, they will have these tools and resources for years to come. The components of this project are critical in developing the garden plot by hand. Students enjoy the community aspect, direct involvement, and educational components.
Mountain Roots Education is partnering with Victor Elementary School for this project. Mountain Roots Education is designing the master plan for the garden and teaching the curriculum for the school during students’ “specials” classes. Victor Elementary School is using budgeted funds from the county to pay for these classes. In addition, Friends of the Teton River has partnered on this project by providing funding for the initial 8 garden classes in order to offer hands-on, outdoor education to our youth.
Victor Elementary School is the largest elementary school in Teton Valley. Previously, there was such a high percentage of students on free and reduced lunch that the county decided that everyone would be on free and reduced lunch this year. There is a need for more local and fresh produce going into our school lunches. The school garden will help bring healthy and important nutrients to our youth’s bodies.
Youth Philanthropists agreed that students crave outdoor education and appreciate the previous known successes of this program at local schools. Studies have proven that students learn better and comprehend more information when they are engaging in hands-on activities mixed with their typical classroom activities. This outdoor garden classroom will allow for more time using this side of their brain and help develop stronger and smarter students in our community.
