Forwood Elementary will have its new garden built in September.
Forwood Elementary in Wilmington will have a garden installed on its school grounds next month as part of a national initiative to help children learn about nutrition.
It is one of 24 schools across the U.S. to get a new or refreshed learning garden as part of the “24 Gardens in 24 Hours in 24 Communities” contest, run by The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation.
Volunteers will create the garden Sept. 23 at the Brandywine School District elementary.
The contest, launched in April to celebrate Earth Day, drew more than 3,000 nominations by Sprouts customers.
RELATED: 11 First Staters win scholarships for farm activities
After a three-month process involving interviews and vetting, 24 schools were selected for a $500,000 total investment from the foundation.
“Sprouts is committed to providing children with hands-on educational experiences that shape how they think about food,” said Nick Konat, chief operating officer of Sprouts. “We believe that our foundation’s efforts to make these connections will play a pivotal role for children to develop an understanding of the importance of healthy eating.”
All of the gardens will be built Sept. 23.
The donation also will support training educators at each school on how to effectively incorporate the garden into teaching practices across all grade levels.
The winning gardens will team up with KidsGardening, a national nonprofit, to become part of a learning community in which teachers responsible for the gardens will receive ongoing technical assistance and mentoring.
Since its inception in 2015, the Sprouts foundation has given $18 million to more than 400 nonprofit partners focused on advancing children’s nutrition education and school-based gardening programs.
Sprouts predicts that in 2023 more than three million students across the U.S. will benefit from programs supported by the foundation.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
Jarek can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 450-9982. Follow him on Twitter @jarekrutz
Share this Post