40 Nevada schools receive funding to keep gardens growing

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Forty school gardens across Nevada will grow with a $200,000 boost from the state Department of Agriculture.

The schools in Churchill, Clark, Douglas and Lyon counties will each receive up to $5,000 for this school year, the department announced Tuesday. The gardens provide educational opportunities around healthy eating, enabling teachers to incorporate school garden beds in instruction.

“School gardens as an educational tool allow teachers to provide a course of study addressing multiple subject areas in a hands-on setting as an extension of the classroom,” Amber Smyer, agriculture literacy coordinator for the department, said in a news release.

The award is the second two-year grant for school gardens made possible by a 2017 law. The first year awarded up to $10,000 each to 48 schools in five counties to create new gardens.

The money is targeted to schools with a high number of students in poverty.

Contact Amelia Pak-Harvey at apak-harvey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4630. Follow @AmeliaPakHarvey on Twitter.