Allenby's garden gets seed money
[attach]1016[/attach]The landscaping at Allenby Junior Public School is going back in time.
With a $1,000 grant from Metro grocery store’s Green Apple School Program, the Avenue Road and Eglinton Avenue area school is installing a First Nations garden, complete with native plants.
Fitting, given the school was constructed on land that used to be home to a First Nations village, principal Jennie Ucar said.
Students will not only benefit from a beautified grounds, but the native species that will be planted in front of the school will also be incorporated into the curriculum.
The principal said grade 3 students at the school are taught the history of pioneers, and plants and soils in science. Grade 5 students have lessons on Ontario’s First Nations and the diversity of living things.
Ucar said students in the school’s garden club are very excited about the project.
“They’ll be in charge of researching what plants the first nations used for foods, medicines and even for dyeing clothes,” she said.
The project, spearheaded by parent Alex Vilde, will likely consist of sumac, corn and berries.
The school also received another $1,000 grant, which will be used toward installing recycling bins in the yard.
The Green Apple school grants are given to schools that apply with intention to improve their environment, said Metro’s Marie-Claude Bacon.
She said the grocery chain has committed $1 million in grants to schools across Ontario.
More than 160 schools have benefited since the Green Apple program began in September.
