The Marie Curie Garden Club continues to grow as a student-driven program focused on hands-on learning in gardening, sustainability and food education.
Led by Kacy Centi, Bethany Meyers, and Tabatha McFee, the program has been a part of the school community for more than 10 years. With support from the GASD Educational Foundation, New York Agriculture in the Classroom, grant funding and local business donations, the garden space was fully revamped last year, creating an expanded outdoor learning environment for students.
Students take an active role in all aspects of the program, including planting, monitoring pH and nutrient levels, harvesting and maintaining both outdoor garden beds and three indoor tower gardens that allow for year-round growing. Produce grown by students is used in a variety of ways, including donations to the school cafeteria and take-home items for families, such as dehydrated herbs and student-made “Curie’s Cozy Lavender Lip Balm.”
The program also integrates sustainability practices. Students maintain a compost bin built by Amsterdam National Junior Honor Society members and operate a vermicomposting system in the classroom, learning how to reduce food waste and create nutrient-rich soil.
Additional hands-on learning opportunities include using a blender bike to create smoothies powered by student pedaling and tapping maple trees on school grounds to produce syrup, connecting lessons in science and agriculture.
Students also help care for a class pet, Jasper, a bearded dragon, feeding him greens grown in the tower gardens.
Looking ahead, the program will continue to expand with the addition of a greenhouse and chickens this spring, providing new opportunities for students to explore food systems, sustainability and responsibility.
The Marie Curie Garden Club serves as a living classroom, offering students real-world experiences that support environmental awareness, healthy habits and student engagement.