DOLE Fruit Bowls®, Captain Planet Foundation, Tops Friendly Markets join forces

DOLE Fruit Bowls®, Captain Planet Foundation and Tops Friendly Markets Learning Garden Grant contest will offer elementary schools in the Tops Friendly Markets service area the chance to win a learning garden installation for their school. Together, these three organizations are joining forces to offer local students the opportunity to interact with the environment through a learning garden, while expanding their palates and learning about food origins.

The contest will be hosted on CaptainPlanetFoundation.org through May 3, 2014. Two winning schools, which will be announced at the beginning of June, will receive five raised beds planted on school property, a fully-equipped mobile cooking cart, and lesson supply kits that will contain all the necessary tools for learning in the garden. Standards-based lesson plans for incorporating the learning garden into curriculum will also be provided to teachers, who will have the opportunity to attend a one-day professional development workshop locally-hosted by Captain Planet Foundation.

"Anything can be taught in the context of the garden, and hands-on learning supports student understanding of natural systems, food origins, and healthy eating," explained Leesa Carter, Executive Director of Captain Planet Foundation. "Captain Planet Foundation is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of environmental stewards, and ensuring they are armed with an understanding of the natural world in which they live. We are thrilled to be working with Tops Friendly Markets and DOLE Fruit Bowls to provide two winning schools with CPF Learning Gardens!"

The winning schools will also be honoured with an end-of-year celebration for teachers and students, hosted by Tops Friendly Markets.

To enter the challenge, parents and school officials can click here to submit an entry form detailing the school's interest in nurturing a learning garden and ability to incorporate one within their lesson plans. The contest opens on March 24, 2014 and the entry deadline is May 3 at 11:59PM EST.