Central Public School is getting some extra green to help students, parents and teachers grow an edible forest garden.
The school is among the 28 schools across the country sharing $100,000 in funding through the WWF Green CommUnity School Grant Program, supporting student engagement in green initiatives, a news release said.
At Central school, kids in Grades 1 to 6 are teaming up with parents and teachers to create a forest garden that will improve the school’s outdoor environment and reconnect students with nature.
Students will have the chance to work with local experts to design and build the planters for their edible garden. Each planter will have a form and function that mimics nature as seen through the eyes of a child, said an online description of the project.
Students will plant and maintain their gardens, which will create wildlife habitat, offer food for people and demonstrate the complexity of forest succession, it said.
The grants program is funded through Loblaw Companies Ltd. using partial proceeds from the charge-for-plastic shopping bag program in Loblaw’s stores.