KINGWOOD — The Preston County After School Explorers program has been awarded a $500 grant from Youth Service America, said Susie Huggins, ASE project director. Money from the grant will be used to help create an outdoor herb garden that will be shared with the CTE food service program.
Students in the After School Explorers program, better known as Explorers, have been planning the entire project with guidance from the ASE staff.
Explorers surveyed the cooking program on herb cooking needs, secured permissions from the school board to plant and build the herb garden, planned and constructed the structure, planted seeds, and will be able to tend to the weeding and watering needs of the garden, and participate in the harvesting.
“I’m thrilled to have the Preston High School CTE food service program teaming with After School Explorers for the Global Youth Service Day,” Tami Johnston, Preston High CTE instructor, said. “This is a great way to engage our students in community service, learning and sustainability.”
“After School Explorers is excited that we can provide real-life opportunities for our students,” Todd Seymour, ASE site coordinator at Preston High School said. “Additionally, it is a goal that the herbs will be shared with the community, in addition to using the herbs in the school cooking program.”
He said there are plans to use a dehydrator to dry herbs to sell, to help sustain After School Explorers, as well as the CTE food service program.
Huggins said the gardening program teaches gardening, life and employment skills, and builds awareness about food insecurity in households.
“I think having an herb garden on-site for After School Explorers and the PHS Food Service class is a great idea. Students can see where the herbs they use in recipes come from, and I’m so glad I’ve been a part of this collaboration,” said Abbigail Lilly, a Preston High senior and Explorer.
The STEM-themed gardening project is creative, offers sweat equity, and creates a learning experience in the heart of nature and the outdoors. There has been ample collaboration with ASE staff and the Explorers on the project, along with all the characters that play a role in granting permissions, to bring this project to fruition.
“This has been an enjoyable project, and it’s cool that we’ve gotten to do it,” said Preston High junior and Explorer Zack Blosser.
Huggins said there will be a drive for donated herbs for the Global Youth Service Day. In addition, ASE plans to seek support from the Preston County Master Gardeners program.
ASE will finish the project before the end of the school year, and the ASE summer programs will help with the care and monitoring of the herb garden until school starts again in the fall. Efforts will be made to sell surplus herbs to sustain the effort.
A next step of the project will be securing additional dehydrators to use with ASE and class cooking projects, and to share with students to take home, along with the sale of surplus herbs. This project offers the opportunity to be a business incubator for an aspiring young entrepreneur.
“Gardening and food preservation is a dying art for the younger generations, I’m so happy to be a part of bringing a little piece of that back to life with this project,” ASE PHS instructor Christina Lilly said.
ASE receives funding from the 10 21st Century Community Learning Centers across Preston County. The grants are provided wholly or in part by two federal grants from the United States Department of Education under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title IV Part B, with grant administration carried out by the West Virginia Department of Education.
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