Thurston High School Students Have a Better Attitude about Fruit and Vegetables
We are proud to share, Thurston High School is the proud recipient of a Budding Botanist Grant sponsored by the Klorane Botanical Foundation in partnership with KidsGardening.
While multiple studies indicate students who have a school garden have a better attitude about vegetables, eat more fruits and vegetables, and get more exercise, school gardens are still less common in schools with economically disadvantaged student population
Impact studies conducted by KidsGardening reveal that kids who garden show an 86% increase in environmental stewardship. In addition, a recent study shows that when children grow up with access to green space, the experience can benefit mental health, with the possibility of lowering the risk of developing psychiatric disorders.
The 2019 Budding Botanist Grant was open to educators in low-income schools to help provide much-needed resources for creating/expanding gardens with their students, and Redford’s own Thurston High School was one of six schools across the country chosen as a winner.
The grant is sponsored by Klorane Botanical Foundation in partnership with national non-profit KidsGardening, leader in the school gardening movement, to help our young citizens learn about plants, explore their world and inspire them to take care of the life they discover in their local ecosystems. Thurston High School was selected for its commitment to teaching students about environmental sustainability and biodiversity.
Thurston High School is utilizing the Budding Botanist Grant to support their goal of creating a new rain garden. (Rain gardens are designed with plants that can hold water so that water runoff from roads, buildings and parking lots can slowly infiltrate back into the soil as the plants, mulch and soil naturally remove pollutants.) The new rain garden will increase biodiversity and watershed health, while also combating invasive species. Their new garden will be a hands-on learning lab for high school students and an opportunity for school district elementary and middle schools classes, who can visit to learn and explore.
We would like to congratulate Thurston High School on their big win! Even more so, we wish the faculty and students all the best on their hearty school garden!
