A $3,000 grant allows Hickman Charter School students to learn how a garden grows
Students at Hickman Charter School are learning how to grow food thanks to community generosity and a $3,000 grant from the Whole Kids Foundation.
Susie Frei, education coordinator at the East Sonora school, said community sponsors, parent volunteers, staff and students all have worked to create a fall garden in which the students can learn not only how to grow food, but how to build garden boxes, fill them with soil, how to build fencing and more.
Frei said students have been involved in the project from the first day of breaking ground.
“We are so proud to let Tuolumne County know that our school was selected by the Whole Kids Foundation for a $3,000 grant that will fund the resources needed to build an educational garden on our campus,” Frei said in an email. “We anticipate that most of our students will learn where their food comes from as well as other vital lessons that come from designing, building, assembling, and growing a vegetable garden.”
Frei said the involvement of the community has been encouraging from the beginning, with donations or discounts coming from Solomon’s Garden Nursery, Ace Hardware and Tractor Supply, Nature’s Whole Foods Depot and Hurst Ranch. Many parents have also donated supplies, time and skill.
About 100 Sonora-area students are enrolled as homeschoolers at the public Hickman Charter School, many of whom attend weekly classes throughout the school year and bi-monthly STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) classes.
The Whole Kids Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to supporting schools and inspiring families to improve nutrition and wellness for children.
For more information on the program, go online to www. wholekidsfoundation.org.