All Saints All Grade

Students at All Saints All Grade School in Newfoundland are working to address food sustainability in their community through the installation of hydroponics systems.

All Saints All Grade

Students at All Saints All Grade School in Newfoundland are working to address food sustainability in their community through the installation of hydroponics systems.

The Problem

All Saints All Grade is located in a very remote community in Newfoundland that can only be reached by diesel ferry. There also are a lot of mountains around the town so there aren’t a lot of options for renewable energy. This means the community has a unique environmental footprint that requires equally unique solutions.

The Solution

The students set up a garden room and built several hydroponic towers which they used to grow multiple harvests of crops like lettuce and carrots. They used the produce to make meals for the students and teachers, and whatever extra produce they had they donated to elderly residents in their community. The students plan to keep the harvests going for years to come as they continue to support and teach others in their community about sustainable food systems.

14

students and teachers directly worked on or were engaged in the project

Community

members were engaged through word of mouth, announcements on their community facebook pages, and by donating extra produce to elderly community members.

Lessons Learned

Leverage the experience you have!

The teacher helping to facilitate the project did have a little bit of experience with setting up these systems from his time teaching at a different school, but, in general these types of projects are very easy to implement.

Access the easier options!

There are many different vendors that now sell these hydroponic towers in complete packages so all you have to do is order them online, assemble them, plant, and maintain them.

Give it time!

Just like for food, it can take a long time for equipment to get shipped to remote communities! This was the case for All Saints All Grade, so their advice to fellow remote schools is to make sure longer shipping timelines are factored into your project plan.

“The students get to enjoy foods that they have never tried before and it has been a joy to see them react to new experiences. This type of project-based learning has been instrumental to increasing student knowledge of climate change issues while becoming active agents to affect change in their communities and the wider world!”

Jonathan Morry, Principal

“I really liked seeing the progress in our plants and how well they grow, and how some grow faster than others. I think it’s really interesting.”

Elise, Student

All Saints All Grade in the News

VOCM Radio Interview

Listen to the school's principal talk more about the success of the project.

All Saints CBC Radio Interview

Listen to learn more about the 15 vegetables and fruits that the students were able to grow.

Related Lesson Plan

Health/Nutrition

Food，Agriculture & Land Use

Grade 9

ON

Eating Plants, Reducing Emissions

Plant-Rich Diets

Eating a plant-rich diet is one of the many potential ways to mitigate climate change. In this lesson, students will explore how eating plant-rich diets can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally and explore how delicious a plant-bas... read more

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