Grade: 9-12

Teacher Name: Allison Stephens

Description and purpose of grant: 

Victory Place is an alternative high school which fills an important need within Coppell ISD. We support students with high needs using a whole child approach to instruction.  We would love to build and maintain garden beds at our school because of the many ways it could benefit and bless our students and community. With a diverse and unique population, we provide enriching opportunities that not only teach and build skills, but also help students belong, contribute, and be engaged in a way that positively impacts themselves and others. We continually look to further strengthen our values here in Coppell ISD and increase collective engagement, great teaching, recognize individual contributions, and build authentic relationships. This project would be instrumental in helping us achieve these goals.

Our objectives pertaining to the garden beds are as follows:

1. Increase community and belonging: As students and staff work together, they build relationships, increase teamwork and communication skills, and work towards a common purpose.

2. Develop knowledge and skills: Learning to plan and implement the process of growing plants and watching their work come to fruition is a powerful learning experience and skill. Students would learn project management and problem solving skills, as well as make connections to their academic courses such as nutrition, biology, and environmental science. They would also learn the basics of composting, fertilization, and agriculture.

3. Sustainability and environmental awareness: Growing a garden would benefit our learners and staff by teaching basic environmental awareness and supporting sustainability efforts, such as fertilization and water conservation.

4. Promote well-being: Being involved in nature and growing plants has shown to be beneficial to the whole student. Many find these projects meditative and restorative, which can give the students a sense of calm and balance as they also pursue their academic goals.

Thank you for considering our goals and objectives. We love our students and hope to provide experiences that make them not only into better students, but the best version of themselves and help them in their journey as contributing members to our community and society.

Implementation process:

Once supplies are purchased, our students will help prepare and set up our garden beds. They will help prepare the soil for planting, plan appropriate fruits and vegetables to grow for each season, and discuss a regular schedule in caring for and maintaining our garden. Over the course of the year, we have up to 100 students at our campus that will be involved in caring for and learning about the garden. We hope to continue cultivating the garden each year and it will be a bright spot for students and staff to care for our environment and contribute to this school project.

Items you plan to purchase with grant money

In the event my grant is not fully funded, this is minimum amount I would need to get started on this project: $1190