Fifty-six schools in Pennsylvania were given Farm-to-School Grants to fund projects that will benefit school nutrition programs. Dover Area High School was given one of these grants. The Dover Area Middle School kitchen was also awarded a 150,000-dollar Healthy School Incentives Grant.

Director of School Nutrition Services Kelly Renard is “very excited about being one of the districts selected from across the state as a Farm to School Grant recipient.” She is working alongside the Director of Career & Technical Education Charles Benton and agriculture teacher Britney Marsh to utilize the greenhouse at the middle school to make it an active garden. They also plan to use half of the greenhouse space to place 24 aeroponic tower gardens to provide space for 672 plants. Infographics will be placed in the cafeterias at both schools so students can be aware of what is going on with the garden. Renard selected the name for the plan, “Growing to Serve You,” since the food grown will be served in the school’s meal program. 

To receive this grant, the team had to go through a tedious process. This included constructing a plan and applying to be eligible for it. The application was seven pages long and contained details about the district, a summary of the project, a narrative with measurable outcomes and a budget explaining how the funds would be spent. Benton also said they “toured Milton Hershey School to view a greenhouse production in a school setting. Milton Hershey has one of the largest productions in a school setting.” After establishing the plan, Renard and Benton talked to Marsh to decide what senior student from her horticulture program would be a good fit to help manage the greenhouse. All of this hard work certainly paid off in the end when the team received the grant money.