Grade 8 students at St. Peter Catholic Elementary School are using Nutritower in their classroom to explore growing food from seed.
Nutritower, a vertical hydroponic garden tower, allows people to grow their own food indoors, year round, independent of external light and soil.
Sean Shoemaker, the teacher in charge of the project, was provided with the idea to use a Nutritower from Healthy Active Living Resource Teacher, Peter Glaab.
“We have been using it in the library. We are growing a variety of different herbs and vegetables - basil, lettuce, Kale etc,” shared Shoemaker. “We have been connecting it to our unit on cells.”
For students, it is an incredible opportunity to see firsthand how to grow food from seed.
“It's cliche but, you won't protect that which you don't love, and you can't love that which you don't know. If students get to know seeds and plants a little more, they may have a better understanding of the relationship between the human and more-than-human world and the role we must accept to cultivate a healthy interaction. When you think about it, seeds are absolutely incredible, having all the information to grow into me, you, the tree, kale, cabbage, a carrot,” shared Glaab. “I hope this helps to nudge more wonder and awe within students. I hope it connects the dots regarding the kinship between the sun, the planet, water, soil, seeds, plants, food, animals, people, fungi... The planet is our life support system and the more we interact with her in a healthy way, the more whole we become and feel.”
Being the first class that Shoemaker has brought this into, it’s been a big hit with students!
“Students generally are interested and excited about possibly taking home what we have grown,” he said.
Following the introduction of the Nutritower to the class, Shoemaker is hoping to continue to grow his student’s love of plants by building an outdoor raised box to reside beside the school.