High school goes green with garden project

MERCEDES — One Mid-Valley school is the latest campus to “go green” as part of the environmentally friendly movement that is engulfing the nation.

South Texas High School for Health Professions has recently announced plans for its Green Project, a means of academic and nutritional education, school officials said last week.

Launching the project is art teacher Jessica Monroe, who got the idea after attending a conference in California in October. During the conference, Monroe said, she learned about the Center for Ecoliteracy and its support for sustainable living.

“The way it works with education is there are several different ways to go about it, and different things they look at,” Monroe said of the project, which if approved should begin before the end of the school year. “One of them is to work in a school garden.”

As part of the school’s gardening program, students will not only learn about a variety of subjects that could tie into this activity, they will also practice a healthy diet, Monroe said.

“The idea behind that is to develop more of a connection to the food. They aren’t just growing; they are also consuming what they produce,” Monroe said. “It also addresses some real health concerns that are issues in the United States and in this area, like obesity and diabetes, and we will be educating on nutrition and eating better foods.”

Monroe said the school’s cafeteria staff is ready and eager to use whatever students grow in the school garden. The project is an ambitious one for students to undertake, but also one that will make a difference.

“It’s more than putting a green trash can in the room and not thinking about it,” Monroe said. “It’s a campaign that changes people’s views on what it means to recycle.”

The students in Monroe’s classes have designed the layout of the garden, which is proving to be a very hands-on project.

Progresso native and student Katherine Martinez is excited to get started on the garden.

“I think it will be fun to take care of a garden, especially because we get to work with our classmates and care for something together,” she said. “I like how it brings us all together so we can create something beautiful and something that helps with our environment as well.”