The goal of the grant is to purchase a tabletop composter so students can use food waste from the cafeteria to create nutrient-rich compost for our school garden. I want to expose students to the troubles that food waste can cause and the potential solution of composting and its benefits.

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Using lunch waste to grow our garden and our knowledge

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School:
Parkside Elementary 
Subject:
Science 
Teacher:
David Ware 
Students Impacted:
598 
Grade:
Pre K - 5 
Date:
August 25, 2022

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

 

Suncoast Credit Union - $646.18

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Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 175

The intention of this grant was to give all PSE students a chance to learn about turning food waste into nutrients for our school garden, and I was able to begin that process with our 2nd and 4th grade students. Unfortunately, our garden was impacted by two events that cause me to have to put our garden program on hold. The first event was Hurricane Ian which completely destroyed our garden, and I had to replant everything. Second was a water quality test that revealed our garden was being watered by potentially contaminated groundwater. Out of an abundance of caution, the decision was made to take all edible plants out of the garden. 

 

The good news is that the Lomi is still like-new and I plan to restart the project next school year. 

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Collecting food waste

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After running a few cycles

 

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Spreading the compost in the garden

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Bountiful harvest

 

Original Grant Overview

Goal

The goal of the grant is to purchase a tabletop composter so students can use food waste from the cafeteria to create nutrient-rich compost for our school garden. I want to expose students to the troubles that food waste can cause and the potential solution of composting and its benefits.  

 

What will be done with my students

Each class in PreK-5th will have the opportunity to add food waste to the composter and then spread it in the garden. Each opportunity would also include a science lesson, so students understand the science behind the process.

The composter would reside in the cafeteria, where all students would be able to see it throughout the year. Lessons would take place all year long, and each class will have at least one opportunity to operate the Lomi.  

 

Benefits to my students

Students will gain a better understanding of the nutrient cycle and how waste can be turned into energy for the plants in our garden.

A secondary benefit will be savings on the need to purchase fertilizer for our garden. With constant use of the Lomi Composter, we won't need to spend as much money on fertilizer, and those saved funds can be used for other purposes.  

 

Budget Narrative

All funds will be used to purchase a Lomi Composter, including filter replacement and an extended warranty to ensure years of use.  

 

Items

# Item Cost
1 Lomi Composter $499.00
2 3 yr Warrenty $59.95
3 Filter Refills $44.95
4 Taxes $42.28
  Total: $646.18

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Special Thanks to Our Presenting Partners

Suncoast Credit Union