TMS students begin planting

Among the more noticeable structures on the west side of Thermopolis Middle School is the newly added hoop house. Though built last June, teacher Becky Martinez noted she went on vacation soon after and didn't want to plant things that would simply die. This is the first season the students are planting in it.

Martinez and the students hope to have some of their crops ready to go by the end of the school year. They are growing things for the school's lunch salad bar, including lettuce, spinach, carrots and radishes.

The hoop house acts as a greenhouse, with PVC pipes bent at 180 degrees and plastic stretched tight across the top. The school was able to get the house through a grant awarded by the University of Wyoming Department of Ag, and it was put up by a team, with some help from the community, in a couple days.

The students really enjoy using it, Martinez said. She has a seventh and eighth grade Farm2School and she gave them some ownership in deciding what to do with the hoop house once it was built. The students decided to do raised beds rather than plant directly into the ground, so they came up with a plan, designed and built the beds.

Students are also planting tomato seeds in some 10-inch pots. The plants will be grown inside the classroom for the first month to give them a chance before moving them to the hoop house once the weather is good. The school has a Fine Arts Night on May 3, and the tomatoes will be available for sale that evening, with proceeds going to help sustain the Farm2School program.

Students have also developed a sprinkler irrigation system they will install after spring break, though they won't run it until there's no chance of it freezing at night. Martinez added the system has three different lines on a timer to run automatically.

"This year it's all trial and error," Martinez said. "We're going to find out what works and what doesn't work. I tell my students a lot of time swe learn more from our failures than we do our successes."

The school garden won't be planted until May, with plans to grow two corn varieties, two potato varieties, honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon and strawberries. Other ideas, if there is room, include tomatoes, bell peppers and jalepenos. Everything grown will go straight to the school lunch program or into Martinez's classroom for students to try recipes they want to recommend for lunches.

The Board of Education recently approved a request for quotes for the Farm2School program. Martinez said her goal for the 2018-19 school year is to have one locally sourced meal in the middle school, on the third Thursday of every month. The request for quotes is being put out to see what people would like to partner with the program.

The system is point-based, Martinez said, with a couple different categories. For instance, if a person can provide 100 percent of the requested amount of food they get the maximum points. Other categories include location from Hot Springs County, past performance, production systems and cost.

Preference is given to those who are closest, Martinez said, but all bids will be looked at. A committee will meet to decide to whom the bid will be awarded. Through the process, Martinez hopes the community and students feel confident a safe food source is being provided.

The lunch program will not be charged for the food from the hoop house and garden, and Martinez hopes it will decrease the food bill so more money could be spent when the bids come in.

"We're not at that spot yet," Martinez said, "so I can't say for sure, but that's what I'm hoping, that the community will see we want to work with them. We still want to give a fair price, but we are definitely on a budget."

Martinez is excited for the opportunity for her and her students to learn as they go, and appreciative of the school district's support of what they're doing and the lunch program's willingness to try things. "It couldn't be done with just one person. It is really a team effort."