Students and staff at Magnolia High recently enjoyed fresh produce from the school's hydroponic gardening system thanks to a grant from the Magnolia Education Foundation. 

Cultivating Makerspaces: The Campus Farmstand was a grant written to help fund three hydroponic gardening systems used as hands-on learning makerspace stations in the school's library. 

"By bringing the outdoors inside the walls of the school library, we will be able to use hands-on learning to teach horticulture in an innovative way," said MHS librarian and grant recipient Kara Harper.

A hydroponic gardening system is a set of self-watering, self-fertilizing "greenhouse" that uses less water and energy than traditional farming techniques. These gardens help support literature and research on the benefits of sustainability while addressing the principles of STEM, Science, Agriculture, and Family and Consumer Sciences. 

Students throughout the campus have been able to benefit from these hydroponic gardens and on Friday picked fresh produce from the gardens. Additionally, culinary students will be using berries for fruits, desserts and jams, vegetables and herbs for cooking, and more.