FORT SMITH (KFSM) -- A group of high schoolers built and installed raised garden beds as part of a project to teach elementary students about gardening.
Northside High School Students installed the 22 garden beds in the new "Antioch Discovery Garden" on North 8th Street, between K and L Streets, on Friday (April 1).
"We have harvested this fall and will be moving the beds now all to this area so we can plant," said Charolette Tidwell, who works for the Antioch Food Pantry.
The garden's aim is to teach young, low-income students how to grow a garden and use the produce in low-cost healthy meals, while also teaching them about nutrition.
"We built the beds themselves in the shop at the school at Northside," said Mike Carmack, Northside woodworking teacher. "Now we’re installing the beds so they can raise plants for people.”
The garden bed project is part of a nationwide competition. About 850 gardens around the nation are vying for a $25,000 "Seeds of Change" program grant. The competition started Thursday (March 31) and will go through April 18. If the Northside High School Students make the top 50, the district will go into the finals for the grant money.