THUNDER BAY - Students with a preference for a hands-on approach to learning are giving back to the community.
The final touches were placed on the Gateway garden on Tuesday at the Boys and Girls Club, capping off a four-month project.
“It’s pretty peaceful and quiet. Every other high school you have to walk through a crowd and hear a bunch of noise,’ said Grade 10 student Daniel Ironsand.
Gateway is an alternative education program that enrolls students from the Thunder Bay District Catholic School Board from St. Patrick and St. Ignatius high schools.
Thirty students between Grade 9-12 started constructing a greenhouse from scratch in February, and are now using it to plant tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce behind the Boys and Girls Club building on Windsor Street.
The garden was started by students during the previous school year.
Ironsand said he enjoyed the hands-on approach of building a structure and doing the labour required to build a garden.
Jocelyn Carobelli, a Gateway program teacher, said the program is designed to fit the student’s learning preferences.
“We just try different programming and we’re able to customize the education for each student as best as we can.”
She says the garden project is fulfilling by the way it benefits the community.
“We started the garden last year and students were telling us they were accessing the food with their families in the summer,” she said.
“They felt a lot of pride in what they were able to build for themselves and their community.”
The community is welcome to visit the garden behind the Boys and Girls Club and take fresh produce.
