Catholic Central High School
Project Description:
A “Do It Yourself” hydroponics system was created to grow vegetables to assist the Heartside community. Students designed and built the system. Students also started all of the plants from seed and explored many different options for monitoring the health of the plants. The goal was to create a successful system that produced vegetables in a large enough quantity to be donated to charities around the school, adding to their free meals for the homeless. Students built a fully operational constant-flow system that can handle up to 26 plants. The system was set up to grow one type of vegetable at a time, but is able to be modified to handle up to four different types of plants.
Fostering Lifelong Stewardship:
Many Catholic Central students come from fairly privileged backgrounds. This project opened their eyes to the plight of community members they might otherwise overlook. This project also helped them realize what it takes to make fresh produce available in areas where it isn’t easily grown. Students learned that they can leverage their skills to affect change. Several students actually expressed interest in building their own systems at home so that they could grow their own food. This project also aligns with the inherent Catholic Social Teachings that are vital to the school community.
Partners:
Disher, God's Kitchen, and Kent Career Technical Center
Teachers:
2
Students:
13
Funder:
GVSU College of Education
Showcase Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osPnZtjrrAQ
Project Description:
The main goals of this second year of our project were to expand our functional knowledge of hydroponics and to help out more people who are in need of our charity. Our class successfully improved our hydroponics system in order to grow fresh produce for God’s Kitchen in the Heartside District, near our school. We used feedback from our community partners to increase the quantity and variety of plants grown in our system.
We began with a small-scale system and only a few plants. Our system is currently fully functional (we’ve had four successful harvests this year, as compared with one semi-successful harvest last year). We made upgrades and modifications to be much more efficient and more environmentally friendly. It currently has temperature and humidity monitoring for the health and well-being for our plants, which we lacked last year. We have also added air circulation to our system this year. We needed to change our tubing due to algae growth. Several students successfully incorporated vertical grow lines into our system so we can grow peas and other climbing or vine-like plants.
Fostering Lifelong Stewardship:
This project has been very eye-opening for our students. We can see the line for God’s Kitchen from our classroom window. Our students are able to actually see the faces of the people they are helping. They realized that it is not difficult to help people and the environment at the same time. I expect that their new knowledge about how a hydroponics system works, coupled with the realization of the positive impact they can have on others, will propel them forward in service and stewardship in their communities. This project also reinforces the Catholic Social Teachings on which our school community is founded.
Partners:
God's Kitchen, Green Collar Farms
Teachers:
2
Students:
35
Funder:
Baldwin Foundation
Showcase Video:
https://youtu.be/DqX5PXMd3KI