Students at J.D. Hogarth Public School in Fergus are helping stock a community pantry thanks to a UGDSB experiential learning grant.
The students, who are part of the Equity and Inclusion Club and range from Grades 3 to 8, built a wooden cupboard to place in front of Faith Lutheran Church, which is located next to the school on Belsyde Ave E.
Known as the "Community Food Cupboard", the pantry is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is filled with nonperishable food items like canned meat and beans as well as hygiene products.
"I want to make life easier for other people and make sure everyone has a chance for success in life," student Aspen Carolus told the Wellington Advertiser last December.
The UGDSB offers experiential learning grants to all K-12+ educators to support grassroots projects through a Call for Proposals process. Classroom specific projects are eligible for up to $1,000 while department, division or school-wide projects can apply for up to $3,000.
All proposals go through a committee review that includes representatives from different areas of program to ensure the projects adhere to board policies, connect to at least one of the key drivers (pathways exploration, curriculum enrichment, transferable skill development and/or well-being), and honour the tenets of experiential learning including how students will work through the different phases of the EL cycle. They also encourage and help schools to make connections to the local, national, and/or global community where possible with their projects.
"We are not looking for'‘perfect' applications," Tracy Hunter, Program Lead, said. "We offer support to all potential project leads to help further develop an idea when beneficial. We also recognize that as per the organic nature of experiential learning, there has to be room for flexibility to respond to student voice, choice, and goals."
This year, the Call for Proposals ran in the fall. Along with J.D. Hogarth PS, there are 38 school projects that received grants and are engaging students in authentic learning tasks connected to a variety of themes, goals, and curriculum areas.