Greenport School District Receives Grant For Outdoor Garden Classroom

GREENPORT, NY — Greenport's outdoor garden continues to blossom and grow, as the Greenport School District announced that it has received a $4,990 grant from the Lowe's Toolbox for Education program, to be used for an outdoor garden classroom.

The district's grant application was based on the goal of developing an outdoor learning space that will further a school and community effort to promote health and wellness, said Greenport Schools Superintendent David Gamberg, adding that district officials look forward to sharing the Greenport outdoor garden classroom with the Greenport community.

"The addition of a classroom will be a unique outdoor experience," he said. "As a school community with over 70 percent of our student population eligible for free or reduced lunch, we must promote healthy eating in an effort to give our students a better opportunity to learn and thrive both in and outside of school."

The Greenport Outdoor Garden Classroom will integrate agriculture into the district’s elementary curricula, Gamberg said.

Looking ahead, the high school's production and construction systems classes will design and create the structures necessary for the space, so that every grade level in the district can benefit from the project.

The space will include an outdoor classroom area, storage shed, seating, and benches for experiments and harvesting, the superintendent said.

“Our school and community will greatly benefit from this grant. We want to thank our friends at Lowe’s for generously supporting our outdoor garden classroom,” said Greenport Elementary Principal Joseph Tsaveras.

All K‐12 public schools in the United States are eligible for the Toolbox for Education program.

In November, the district held a ceremony after it was awarded a $10,000 "Seeds of Change" grant in May, 2017, to celebrate efforts to create an expanded school garden.

Photos by Lisa Finn.