On the QT | The Official Newsletter of GWA April - May 2017 | Page 6
FOOD
PAT R I C K R YA N
Dirt Made Your Lunch! Alaska
Students Learn to Grow Their Food
All this started at the request of Susan
Williams, the coordinator of the program. She
had heard about ABG’s Junior Master Gardener
Summer Camp, which I have been teaching
since 2004, and she wanted something similar
in the schools. We met and brainstormed about
possible scenarios for teaching gardening to
kids—with an emphasis on health and nutri-
tion—and the goal of developing gardens at
the eight schools we would be serving.
I modeled the lights and shelving units after
expensive commercial systems, and have used
them for many years in my greenhouse to start
seeds. Rolling steel wire shelves are readily
available at any big box store. Lights, also
obtainable commercially, are run on a timer.
Students participating in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers learn that from tiny seeds,
all kinds of plants grow.
Getting kids to under-
stand and appreciate
the world of plants
through gardening
activities is a great way
to get them hooked
on healthy, lifelong
actions. By guid-
ing youth through
gardening, teachers,
parents and childcare providers can spark a
child’s imagination by connecting them with
the natural world.
The Alaska Botanical Garden in partnership
with the Anchorage School District’s 21st
Century Community Learning Centers program
has developed a system for growing plants in
the schools. The Anchorage School District, a
recipient of three community learning center
grants from the U.S. Department of Education,
provides after-school enrichment programs
for K-8 students in core academics, homework
help, tutoring, drug and abuse prevention,
technology training, recreation and the arts at
11 public school facilities. ABG serves eight of
these schools.
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Students at Nunaka Valley Elementary School grow
lettuces and other greens.
M O R E L EA RNING O PPO RTUN ITIES
The purpose of the 21st Century Community
Learning Centers program is to expand learning
opportunities for children and their families
outside regular school hours. These programs
offer strong, after-school activities that involve
the schools and community together to help
kids develop into healthy adults.
S PECIA LIZ ED LIGHTING
With the help of a local lighting supplier, two
shelving units were designed for a total of five
lights: three in one unit and two on the other
shelf. The fixture itself is a basic T5 strip shop
light with an additional reflector to direct the
light downward. The two lamps are the 3500
Kelvin in the red end of the spectrum and the
6500 Kelvin lamp is in the blue end.
In Anchorage, around winter solstice in
December, we have about 5½ hours of daylight.
By the spring equinox in March, we have, of
course, 12 hours of daylight. Plants need extra
light to start and maintain them through
harvest.
The gardening program runs from Septem-
ber through December, and restarts in January
through May.
The growing boxes are 17-liter plastic tubs
from Really Useful Containers, found at office
supply stores or online. We drill holes in the
bottom and use the lid to catch the drips. We
have 12 at each school and fill them with about
4 inches of good, organic potting soil. Students
are involved in every step as we prepare for
seed sowing.
For watering, we use one-gallon juice jugs
with holes drilled in the lids. They aren’t too
heavy and they are well balanced. On-site
coordinators are responsible for watering, with