Elementary third grader Keagan Dunn with the school’s hydroponically-grown lettuce harvest.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
CHESTER — Students at Chester Elementary School were excited to eat their vegetables at school lunch before Thanksgiving, said Vanna Maffuccio, their school principal.
“They were eager to dig in because the cafeteria was serving the hydroponic vegetables they grew and harvested during their first grow cycle of the school year,” Maffuccio said.
The hydroponically grown vegetables, grown without soil in nutrient-filled water, were served in fajitas one day and soup the next. Maffulccio said the fajitas featured their lettuces and the soup, their bok choy. She said the students felt a sense of accomplishment as they left the cafeteria “with full bellies and happy hearts.”
The hydroponic gardening at the school is a part of its science, technology, engineering, art and math program. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade have STEAM three times a week, and grade 5 has STEAM classes every day.
The hydroponic systems were obtained through a partnership with Community Food Engine Farmstead, utilizing some of the Title 1 funding for schools with a high percentage of low income enrollment during the 2022/23 school year.
“We have three hydroponic systems in our agricultural learning and STEAM classroom space — 168 plant capacity. We engage in four to five grow cycles per year; each cycle provides a bountiful harvest of crops for students to enjoy both at school and at home,” Maffuccio said.
“Our students are modern day farmers practicing and promoting innovative and sustainable agriculture at our school,” she added.
