With winter well underway, the Quakertown Community School District (QCSD) High School Garden Club has created a way for students to hone their horticultural and propagating skills through the colder months without stepping outside. This past January, Quakertown Community High School’s Garden Club – run by Chemistry and Environmental Science teacher John Stoverink – Received a Quakertown Community Education Foundation (QCEF) grant of $5,000 to contribute to the club’s expansions and growth.
With the garden club’s flourishing growth, new possibilities have been discovered with microgreens, herbs, and seedlings, among other plants. Along with this, the club received a grant of $5,000 from the QCEF’s challenge grant. The QCEF provides funding for programs that will supplement educational experiences for students. With this grant, the garden club was able to expand their work– which can be tough during the winter. They used the funds to acquire new indoor growing equipment, lighting, growing shelves, growing medium, and seeds. These acquisitions not only contribute to new possibilities for the garden club but also increase collaboration with the culinary classes; providing microgreens and herbs for dishes in the class.
Two and half years ago, students with a green thumb began growing indoor plants and working on plans for a garden and temporary greenhouse, developed in order to hold over the group while in wait for approval for a permanent greenhouse, on campus. With determination, QCHS’s Garden Club was born. Along with various other species of plants the club cultivates, they have added herbs and microgreens that have been used by the high school culinary classes taught by Christopher Polk and Rebecca Leiby.
Mr. Stoverink is extremely proud of the opportunities this grant has provided and the growth and development within not only the club, but the students in the club who have been given the space to exude their creativity and goals. The grant has opened new doors for the garden club; from planting seedlings to creating gardening opportunities in the courtyard, and even partnering with ArcheWild (a local nursery focused on ecological restoration). This connection with Iveta Gigovia and her husband Mark Brownlee began in Spring 2023 when the pair were kind enough to visit and consult the future direction of the garden!
The members of the club have not only been awarded a grant but have been awarded with opportunities for leadership and getting involved with the school. The students are truly running the club fine-tuning their abilities and executing ideas through projects with leadership, such as organizing plant sales to raise funds for the club. The ultimate dream of the club, if permitted another grant, would be a greenhouse run through the state and district, to truly have an impact on our town and increase Quakertown’s ‘going green’ possibilities – which could become a reality with the help of other applicable grants.
With the garden clubs flourishing membership and new possibilities, there is a chance that students at QCHS will have the opportunity to participate in an elective surrounded by horticultural ideas if the school’s administration recognizes the strong student interest and presence in this club. The future is exciting with the gardening and horticulture activities QCHS has to offer. If becoming a part of a community like the garden club interests you, make sure to attend meetings on Mondays and Thursdays from 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm, or support the club through their frequent plant sales.
