Elementary and middle school students in Lee County are now harvesting lettuce and other produce as part of their science classes, thanks to a partnership between Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) and the School District of Lee County. The initiative is focused on expanding on-site gardening programs, with a particular emphasis on hydroponic towers that allow plants to grow vertically in water.
FGCU Food Forest coordinators Adrian Boguslaw, a civil engineering major, and Samantha Sette, a biology major, along with students from Marco Acosta’s University Colloquium class, have been working with three local schools to help teachers set up and maintain these hydroponic systems.
“This is a good system because it saves a lot of space,” said Boguslaw. “You have your plants growing vertically rather than flat on the ground. It’s a very sustainable system when you have a small amount of space to work with, like the interior of an elementary school.”
Some schools in Lee County have used hydroponic gardening since the 1990s. However, according to Susie Hassett, an environmental education resource teacher for the district, support from FGCU students has made maintaining these gardens easier for teachers. “We got a USDA farm-to-school grant in 2022, and that grant helped us with evaluating our programs, and we were able to have some interns with FGCU going around as in-person support for the teachers,” Hassett said. “When the teachers had somebody showing up to help them do the maintenance checklist — is the irrigation working right, do I have any pests, did we fill our water reservoir — it made it a lot easier for the teachers.”
Recently, FGCU students constructed their own hydroponic tower at the university’s Food Forest near Sugden Welcome Center. This facility will serve as a training site for more FGCU volunteers who will assist local schools. Sette explained: “Students that have been going out each semester to help set up and maintain the systems are now able to be trained on campus. We’re able to show them exactly how it’s going to work, train them on the systems more efficiently, and then send them out on volunteer days. We are hoping to make FGCU a sort of home base for outreach for these teachers.”
Boguslaw added: “Every semester there’s going to be new students to help with this project. That’s why the training ground is so important.”
Sette noted that younger students are enthusiastic about participating in garden activities: “Last semester I went out to Harns Marsh Middle School, and it was a harvest day for them and the kids went crazy,” she said. “They get a real sense of pride when they know that the things they are growing are going to their friends at lunchtime. It’s giving the kids a confidence boost in what they’re capable of, and they’re understanding nutrition from a younger age.”
According to Hassett, approximately 75 Lee County schools currently operate gardens; 25 supply produce regularly to their cafeterias. She added: “There are some schools that are getting quite a lot. About four schools can produce enough for their cafeteria. Two schools are producing enough that they can send it to other schools as well.”
Teachers use these gardens not only for nutrition lessons but also across subjects such as biology, art, agriculture, environmental studies, literacy and marketing. One high school engineering class developed a solar-powered system so hydroponic towers can operate without access to electrical outlets.
The gardening initiative is part of Lee County’s Healthy Living Collaboration program aimed at linking school gardens with cafeteria menus and classroom curricula while promoting health and food security among families through partnerships with organizations including Sprouts Healthy Community Foundation, Collaboratory in Fort Myers and University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Hassett emphasized: “It’s great to have the students involved because they’re motivating and inspirational for the high school kids,” she said. “The kids look at them as mentors.”
Reflecting on his involvement in local classrooms, Boguslaw stated: “It’s been a really great opportunity to learn how to work with these more technical systems,” he said,“but working with the kids has been the most satisfying part.”
