In the mean time, we planted the grass from the project by the back door entrance of the school, we sent home all the bean plants (which were producing beans), ate the lettuce, transplanted the tomatoes to bigger pots, and then planted the flowers around the school grounds. Kindergarten sold 35 tomato plants by receiving donations from the South School families and staff. They earned $200. These donations were given to the Local Food Pantries of both Pike and Wayne counties. The Student Council, Mr. Leighton, Mr. McCormack, and Mrs. Conklin created a raised garden behind the Moravian Church to plant the remaining tomato and zucchini plants. The produce from these plants will be used for the Food Pantries of both counties over the summer. Mr. Leighton and Mr. McCormack offered both their time and supplies (soil, mulch, fencing) to make the creation of the garden possible. Thank you to both of these very generous staff members. Mr. Shafer and Mr. Lavoy were also kind enough to make it possible for the school to have a garden space behind the church. We are grateful. Numerous local businesses (Agway-Greentown, Growers-Newfoundland, True Value-Newfoundland, Lowe's-Matamoras, Home Depot-Milford) donated supplies for the garden and the Ottings Day Care has also offered to help us care for the plants over the summer by watering them. We have been blessed.
This has been a learning experience for everyone involved. It was great to see our children grow plants from seed, care for them, sell them, and then donate both money and time back to their community! I do believe that the greatest result of this project was that we found we have a very loving, compassionate, and supportive school staff and an equally caring and generous community in which we live.
Thank you to everyone involved! Together we can do great things! Wow! This has been a fantastic year! The entire school planted seeds in January to learn about the growth cycle and caring of a seed, but also to get ready for our garden planting in May. We planted tomatoes, beans, lettuce, marigolds, zinnias, basal, coleus, and zucchini. Each class cared for the plants. In April, we worked together to make a Green Earth display by using our plants for the continents and grass for our oceans. We called our earth display the "Farm to Table" project. We entered our finished project in the Carton2Garden.com contest to see if we could win any supplies for our school gardens.
Yes, we did win the contest! We won $2500 in gift cards to the kidsgardening.org website! We were one of the two elementary schools awarded Nationally.
Hurray for the
Wallenpaupack South Elementary School!
Hurray for the
Wallenpaupack South Elementary School!
Evergreen Packaging® and KidsGardening.org
Name Winners of Carton 2 Garden™ Contest
Four schools nationwide will receive $2,500
for their carton garden creations
Evergreen Packaging and KidsGardening.org rewarded 20 schools across the country for their gardens built from recycled milk and juice cartons in the Carton 2 Garden contest! MEMPHIS, Tenn., May 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Evergreen Packaging, a leader in beverage paperboard carton manufacturing, today announced the winners of its inaugural Carton 2 Garden™ contest. Carton 2 Garden is a nationwide competition that gives students hands-on experience in re-purposing empty milk or juice cartons to build or enhance their school gardens. Classroom groups were required to collect at least 100 cartons of any size, including cartons from the school cafeteria or from home. Materials other than cartons were allowed in the creations, but renewable, natural materials were strongly suggested. Teams also had to submit up to 10 photos of their creation process.
The national winners of the contest are as follows:
- Cordova Middle School (Memphis, Tennessee) – Students built a replica of a paddleboat on the Mississippi River and learned about preventing pollution throughout the process.
- College Career & Technology Academy (Pharr, Texas) – Housed in a former Walmart store, these students had to build their garden indoors, which presented a unique set of challenges such as creating a sustainable garden with minimum landscaping capabilities.
- Wallenpaupack South Elementary School (Newfoundland, Pennsylvania) – To build their garden and learn more about sustainable gardening practices, students organized a Skype session with growers in Kenya who provided insight on farming and gardening methods. They also donated their tomato plants to a local church food pantry.
- Vanderlyn Elementary School (Dunwoody, Georgia) – The contest inspired students to partner with a local nature center dedicated to saving Monarch butterflies to build a pollinator garden illustrating the life cycle of a butterfly.
Nearly 150 schools across the country submitted entries to be judged on specific criteria, such as adherence to contest rules, creativity, use of sustainable materials and visual representation. Schools were also encouraged to include a video or slideshow depicting their creation process from beginning to end. These videos were used to qualify entries to win national prizes. All entries were judged by a panel consisting of representatives from KidsGardening.org.
"Carton 2 Garden was created to provide an incentive for children to learn valuable lessons about recycling and reusing everyday products," said Jennifer Tedeschi, Chief Operating Officer at KidsGardening.org. "Seeing their enthusiasm and the benefits of school gardens in action really reinforces this contest as an important educational tool."
Sixteen additional schools were recognized at the regional level for their carton garden creations, including:
Elementary School Winners (K-5)
- Madison Elementary, Mesa, Arizona - "The 'Green' Tractor"
- Windermere Elementary School, Windermere, Florida – "Keep on Track, Grow and Thrive"
- Prairie View Elementary, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – "Hobbiton Garden"
- Pi Academy, Erie, Pennsylvania – "Milk Carton Rain Barrel"
- Jackson STEM Dual Language Magnet Academy, Altadena, California – "Bee Sustainable"
- Osborne Elementary School, Sewickley, Pennsylvania – "Milk Carton Bird Bath"
- Idlewild Elementary School, Memphis, Tennessee – "Walking in 'Moo'mphis"
- Lincoln Elementary School, Madison, Wisconsin – "Lincoln's Buzz Inn"
- Noxon Public School, Noxon, Montana – "Well and Healthy"
- Trafalgar Middle School, Cape Coral, Florida – "Trafalgar Middle Garden Club"
- Timber Academy High School, College Station, Texas – "Garden of Milk and Honey"
- Humboldt High School, St. Paul, Minnesota – "Mid Evil Explosion"
- Rancho Dominguez Preparatory School, Long Beach, California – "Windmill Tower"
- Crockett Middle School, Hamilton, New Jersey – "USS Crockett"
- Avon Lenox School, Memphis, Tennessee – "Shout Out Memphis – Gardening with a Purpose"
- Riverside Middle School, Watertown, Wisconsin – "RMS Vertical Gardens"
About Evergreen Packaging®
Evergreen Packaging is a global leader in creating fiber-based packaging solutions customized to deliver product freshness and brand distinction. Evergreen Packaging is a vertically integrated packaging company, delivering total solutions of barrier paperboard, technical expertise, equipment and service.
Evergreen Packaging cartons have the eco-friendly attributes consumers want: more than 85 percent of the carton is made from paper derived from a renewable resource: trees. Cartons are also recyclable for an increasing number of households. In addition, our cartons are made with renewable energy – over 50% of the energy used to make the paper in our carton comes from biomass.
About KidsGardening.org
KidsGardening.org is a resource of the National Gardening Association, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Williston, Vt. Their mission is to empower every generation to lead healthier lives, build stronger communities, and encourage environmental stewardship through educational gardening programs. Beginning with 50 youth garden grants in 1982, KidsGardening.org has delivered over 10,000 grants and awards, benefiting an estimated 2 million youth gardeners. To learn more and support their efforts visit www.KidsGardening.org.
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SOURCE Evergreen Packaging