Kamloops elementary school in the running to receive $15,000 grant

KAMLOOPS – A Kamloops elementary school is in the running for the "Gardens for Good" grant worth $15,000.

Arthur Hatton Elementary School is a kindergarten to Grade 6 school located on the city's North Shore.

For the last two years, the school has set up four different garden boxes to provide students the opportunity to learn about healthy living and sustainability.

"The garden boxes have provided our students with an excellent opportunity to learn about nutrition, food and growing cycles," according to the contest website.

One of the boxes is an Aboriginal learning garden which provides students the chance to learn about the historical meaning of various plants to First Nations people.

The goal is to expand the school's current community garden and add an additional eight garden boxes to the existing four gardens.

"This model would allow the students to teach the skills that they learn at school to their parents and have a hand in providing their families with fresh, nutritious produce," the school's profile says on the contest website.

The grant money would also be used to expand the learning programs using the community gardens to include all grades.

People can vote for Arthur Hatton Elementary School online on the Nature Path's website here until Oct. 15.

The top nine contestants will move onto the second phase of the contest.

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