The produce growing inside of Fort Recovery Middle School isn't just a science project - it's what's for lunch. In a collaboration with the school's food service department, science teacher Crystal Fullenkamp, with some help from her students, has successfully grown two life cycles of Green Star and Romaine lettuce inside her classroom using a hydroponic tower system.
"Lisa Fullenkamp, the head of the cafeteria, heard the idea from Bradford Schools," Crystal said. "We went and visited there and they kind of told us about the process. Then our middle school principal Holly Wermert wrote a grant."
Lisa was tipped off to the idea through a regular food service newsletter she gets with news at nearby districts. Wermert applied for, and was ultimately awarded, a $6,700 grant from Cooper Farms for the project, which they call Fresh for the Fort.
"Everybody was just shooting ideas back and forth at each other. And this (idea) came across the Bradford food service lady," Lisa said. "She's the one that was putting it out there. And then (I thought), 'Well, maybe I'll reach out to her.' She gave me the information and gave me a website to look at. Then from there I'm like, 'OK, this is not a bad idea.'"
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