Elementary school improving agriculture infrastructure
A project at Broad Street Elementary School will work in tandem with Summit Township Elementary’s recent agricultural education initiative to eliminate food insecurity in the region.
Butler Area School District is getting $50,000 through the Pennsylvania Farm Bill's Urban Agriculture Infrastructure Grant Program.
The money will be used to construct a secure outside entrance for a planned market at Broad Street Elementary. The grant also will be used to purchase refrigeration units and shelving units for the display of produce in the market.
David Andrews, instructional coach for student engagement at Butler Area School District, said the Broad Street project has been in the works in conjunction with the Summit Elementary community agricultural partnership. Once the infrastructure is in place at Broad Street, the two schools will work together to supply produce to the Butler community.
“The grant will work toward those schools to bring the market to Broad Street,” Andrews said. “It will give access for the community to come in to Broad Street and give access to fresh produce that may not be available to that neighborhood.”
Andrews said addressing food insecurity in the community is an ongoing process at the district. The educational opportunities made possible by the grant and a $70,000 Moonshot Grant received by Summit Elementary were an added bonus, he said.
“We are actually going back and putting some new technology into stream classes between buildings,” Andrews said. “If students at Summit are working outside gardening, Broad Street students can join in and see what's going on.”
The Moonshot Grant that Summit Elementary received last year was used to install gardens and agricultural infrastructure in the school’s green space. Students planted produce in the fall, and Andrews said its produce eventually will be sold at Broad Street Elementary once facilities are installed, which could be as soon as this spring.
Some of the money the school district received from the agriculture infrastructure grant will be used with the Moonshot Grant to fund the creation of a greenhouse at Summit Elementary. Broad Street also will get some materials, such as an aquaponic garden, to expand student learning, according to Andrews.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture said 23 projects around the state are receiving money to improve urban agriculture infrastructure and overcome food deserts.
Andrews said the reopening of Broad Street Elementary last year has helped the school district become more in tune with community needs, including the lack of access to fresh produce. The next step is fulfilling those needs.
“Community partnerships are key, and this is trying to establish those,” Andrews said. “So now, we’re looking throughout the community at ways the district can work with the community and bring them things they need.”
