Seeds for Schools: Winner #5 - Allen at Steinbeck K - 8

Allen at Steinbeck K through 8

San Jose, CA

# of students: 800 to 900

Gardening Program Started: 2006

San Jose is well represented this year in our Seeds for Schools program. Allen at Steinbeck is 1 of 2 schools chosen from the San Jose area (we will talk about the other San Jose winner, later in the week).

Allen at Steinbeck is a large urban area school catering to the Kindergarten through 8th grade student body. Their gardening program was started 6 years ago when they moved into their new building and includes 8 beds where they have been growing plenty of herbs, veggies and pumpkins.

"We work with each grade to get kids into the garden going through the entire planning, weeding and harvesting process," says Shawn Shahin, a teach at the school and submitter (along with Kristen Corpuz) of the application. "The pumpkins we grow are used each year to decorate our school."

Allen at Steinbeck plans on using the seeds they will receive as a means to teach more indoor gardening, starting seeds indoors and of course to get more kids gardening. They would like to use "garden time" as a positive reward for their students.

Seeds for Schools: Winner #4 - Bullard Elementary School

Bullard Elementary School
Kennesaw, GA
# of Students: 1,000
Gardening Program Started: 2010

The mission of our 4th winner in our Seeds for Schools program, Bullard Elementary, in partnership with family members and their community, is to provide a foundation which fosters integrity and lifelong learning while developing responsible, productive members of society.

Who can argue? The Kennesaw, GA based elementary school which caters to K through 5th, just recently won an award from "Keep Georgia Beautiful" for the creation of their school garden.

"We try to incorporate the support of the community, scouts, students and parents, and our active PTSA," said Lorelle LoCurto, the submitter of the schools application to the seeds program. "Having the opportunity for all children to have such hands on learning would be valuable."

Bullard Elementary, which was just recently featured in the Duluth weekly for winning this program, has big plans for the seeds they will receive. They are going to implement GA science into their K through 5 curriculum to give the students a better hands on experience.