A John Lewis Middle School student cooks as part of the Seed to Table program offered through an elective botany class. – Original Credit: News-Sun (Waukegan District / HANDOUT)
Making their own salsa from vegetables they helped grow or fruit smoothies containing kale was not something botany students at John Lewis Middle School expected when they decided to take the elective class.
Kale was the big surprise.
Brian Greene, the botany teacher at Lewis surreptitiously added some kale to the fruit mix which was going to be part of the smoothie after the youngsters expressed a dislike for the vegetable.
“They didn’t want to include kale,” Greene said. “The smoothie was all fruit, but I put some kale in the there. I asked them if they wanted to try kale. They said they didn’t like it. I told them they just ate it.”
Growing fruits and vegetables in a greenhouse as well as outside planter boxes is the thrust of the botany class as students learn not only about growing fresh produce, but how to turn the fruits and vegetables into a meal so they learn to eat healthier.
Naming the program Seed to Table, Greene said he started the botany elective in the 2021-2022 school year. The greenhouse was built several years before with $205,000 in contributions from private donors.
This greenhouse at John Lewis Middle School in Waukegan is the home of the botany class and the Seed to Table program. – Original Credit: News-Sun (Waukegan District / HANDOUT)
Seed to Table got a boost last month with a $1,000 grant from the Waukegan Schools Foundation which Greene said he plans to use to purchase cooking equipment to significantly expand foods students can make.
“We have a blender and an air fryer, but we’re going to go much bigger,” Greene said. “We’re going to take it to a whole ‘nother level. I want to get a range and a confection oven to really teach the students to cook.”
Greene was one of 10 recipients among Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 schools to receive between $500 and $1,000 grants totaling $7,800 from the Waukegan Schools Foundation to offer students educational enrichment beyond what the budget provides.
As Lewis students learn more about growing and preparing food, Greene said Seed to Table is going beyond feeding the students to helping the school community with plans underway to become eligible to distribute part of the harvests to food pantries.
“We give some of the prepared food and produce to staff,” Greene said. “When the buses line up, I go out and walk the cars parked picking up students and pass out the fresh produce we picked. They will all know what it means to eat healthy.”
Ben Grimes, the chair of the foundation, said the organization gave these grants for the first time since 2017. Since then, fundraising was done for the Trapp Auditorium at the Brookside campus of Waukegan High School. Once the coronavirus pandemic hit, classes were remote.
Grimes said the purpose of the grants is adding enrichment to the classrooms to enhance student learning experiences with programs which go beyond what the District 60 budget provides. Teachers apply and the foundation board makes the final decisions.
Of the 10 grant recipients, one going to Cooke Magnet Elementary School kindergarten teacher Veronica Perkins — Planting in Kindergarten — is another with healthy eating as a theme. She received $500 to turn a two-month science curriculum into a longer effort growing produce.
“They’re going to be able to plant it, eat it and take it home,” Perkins, a gardener herself, said. “This will be a beginning experience with planting. They’ll draw pictures and write about it. They’ll grow cherry tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers.”
Initially planting their crops with soil in plastic bags, Perkins said the students will be able to see the seeds sprout and the plant start to grow. When the time is right, likely after the two-month plant segment of the school year is over, the produce will be transplanted outside.
“The school has a garden in the courtyard,” Perkins said. “We’ll transfer the growing plants to planter boxes. We’ll go water them three times a week. Once we grow it, we’ll eat it.”
Other grant recipients are Tamara Allen for a digital reading program at the high school, Debra Holland using 3D printing to enhance teaching math and science at Lewis, Julio Farfan for a math project at Lyon Magnet Elementary School and Robert French to purchase electronic equipment to enhance learning outside the classroom at the high school.
Jose Arregui received a grant to work with students on an evaluation project at the high school while Sheryl Jans got funding to help students with their fine and gross motor skills at Lewis. Kara Hartman received funding to develop a care closet at the high school. Simeon Viltz will use his grant for a “media cosmos” effort at the high school.