Students harvest community support

Student Jordan Brown smiled as she pulled a kale plant from a garden behind her technology classroom at Haile Middle School.

Not only did she and her Technology Student Association teammates design and construct the garden, but they harvested it with a greater purpose in mind, to feed the community’s people in need.

She joined with Griffin Hudson, Hunter Raley, Steven Brown, Kaylee Cooper and Miranda Davis to donate their homegrown produce Feb. 5 to Our Daily Bread, a nonprofit that provides meals daily to an average of 250 people in Bradenton.

The donation was part of the team’s “construction challenge” entry in the state-level TSA competition Feb. 24 to Feb. 28, in Orlando. The group had to design and build a project that would benefit the community.

“Anyone can build a swing or a bench or a bridge that goes over a river,” Hudson said. “But, not many people will build something that benefits the entire community.”

Brown agreed.

“That’s the best part of the project,” she said. “It’s not about us. It’s about the community.”

Students came up with their idea for constructing a raised bed garden in September, after tossing around several other ideas. They decided on a simple layout and researched materials to ensure the plants would be healthy. They treated wood for the garden beds with a weather-proofing stain devoid of chemicals, used newspaper for weed control and added rotten hay both as a mulch and fertilizer to promote plant health.

They tended to the plants in December, over the Christmas holiday, even when school was out. 

When the kale, broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce and other crops were ready to harvest, they pulled them and washed them before delivery.

Students said they were surprised to learn, during their project research phase, that there are about 49,000 people in Manatee County who are “food insecure,” or unsure from where their next meal will come, according to The Food Bank of Manatee.

The students will work on their presentation for the state competition over the next few weeks, and hope to advance to the national competition in late June, in Nashville.

TSA adviser and teacher Maureen Hudson said the group will replant crops in about a month, after all the cold snaps are over, and will donate food again at next harvest. Students may even host a farmer’s market, of sorts, and give produce away to the community in the future, as well.