CANTON, Ohio — Along a couple of 80-foot-long planted rows, cucumbers are starting to sprout in what was a football field at STEAMM Academy at Hartford in Canton.
The idea for what is being transformed into a food forest behind the school started from a group of seventh graders working on a school project back in 2021.
Thomas Mankowski and David Thompson, who are now in eleventh grade, were part of the team of kids who presented a plan to address the problem of a food desert in the neighborhood by creating a place to grow produce and help people in need.
"You don't think any of those little projects you do in middle school really come to life or anything, but I think this one will," Mankowski said. "Our idea was to create a farm."
Stark Tank, which rewards young local entrepreneurs, took notice and provided some seed money to make the dream become a reality.
Three years later, the food forest has started to grow with cucumbers. Other vegetables, like lettuce and radishes, will be planted in a few weeks. In the spring, hundreds of fruit trees and berry bushes will be added throughout the half-acre site.
Mankowski and Thompson are thrilled to see their original plan, which included drawings for all of the crops, is coming to fruition.
"It means a lot to know that your class— and you were a part of it— to help come up with this idea," Thompson said.
Horticulture teacher Logan Walter, who also shows students how to care for chickens and the intricacies of running a greenhouse, said the new space for growing food shows the power of perseverance three years later.
"I think it's a great experience for them. It's even a greater experience for teachers because when we are put in a position where we have to empower the students, that teaches us too," Walter said.
Ultimately, Walter said some of the produce will be sold to the community when there's a surplus. Some of the food may also be integrated into the cafeteria or sent home to families.
The food forest wasn't the only idea that STEAMM middle school students came up with in 2021.
An engineering student in the eighth grade came up with a design that proposed a 10,000-square-foot multi-use building.
The students, who are now high school seniors, felt more room was needed for students and community members to exercise.
The Canton City School District took heart and used more than $4 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars to put up the building, which was recently completed.
The space features a basketball/volleyball court but can also be used for indoor recess, expanded classroom space and community events.
The building's two garage doors lead to a retention pond that will be stocked with fish and used for science experiments, horticulture and agriculture classes.
Vanessa Board teaches fourth- and fifth-grade social studies at STEAMM now, but three years ago, she worked with enterprising engineering students.
"You throw these ideas out to kids, but then for them to actually see it becoming concrete is a whole other level of like, wow, I really do come up with ideas and they actually do happen," Board said
