2026 Grants in Place Project Spotlight: Community Garden - Tonica, IL

Pam Schneider teaches middle school science and math at Tonica Grade School in Tonica, IL and is a 2026 Grants in Place awardee. The Grants in Place program awards rural educators from across the country grants to foster Place-Based Education projects that connect their classrooms to their local communities. Since beginning the Community Garden project with her students, students eagerly ask everyday, “Can we go outside to the garden?” The project aims to enhance student engagement, behavior, and learning about agriculture and sustainability. Lettuce, potatoes, cilantro, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, peppers, carrots, garlic, and strawberries were among the top crops students are most excited about growing in their Community Garden. 

To prepare for the project, Pam ordered raised garden beds, which came in boxes for her students to assemble. Pam and her students used some class time during a rainy day to build the raised beds together. “I actually love that we had to build raised garden beds. It was so good for the eighth grade students to assemble by using (or not using) instructions,” mentioned Pam. Pam and her students led the RSC team outside to take a look at the fully constructed and filled raised garden beds. The students pointed out what they intended to plant in each bed. “Tomatoes!” “Peppers!” “Strawberries!” and myriad other plants were shouted as the air was filled with excitement. 

Pam wanted to be able to create a project that provided fresh food, but also teach students that with very little resources, they can grow food too: “If we can teach kids how to grow food, so even if they're in a position later in life where things are hard, they could grow some potatoes and tomatoes and just some basic things.” Not only is Pam thinking about how the fresh produce will benefit her school community, she hopes to “eventually, have a table by the road where community members can come and take and leave what they need. I want the community to feel a part of the project as well. Even if they don't have students here.” 

The project has received support from the school administration and the community, including donations of supplies such as rakes, shovels, garden decor and gloves. “Jameson lives right over there and his mom had said, ‘please come over and get any garden materials and tools you ever need”, described Pam. Support from the school community has been overwhelming at times. Pam noted that she “thought maybe it would just be a garden…then Makerspace was built this year, with a kitchen in there. I know our principal had to pay out of her pocket for students to make a few things. So for me, it was what could the Community Garden do to help? We could actually pull items from the garden to make a few things.” The Makerspace room is a fully functioning kitchen to allow students the hands-on learning experience making food and other projects. A few recipes in the near future for the Makerspace which will utilize garden produce are fresh salsa and french fries.

The middle school science and math students aren’t the only ones excited about growing fruit and vegetables in the garden. Proud kindergarten students and their teacher showed off their carrot seedlings and lettuce sprouts they have been growing in their classroom windows. Tonica's kindergarten teacher joked, “we can make a small side salad!”. They are excited to be a part of the transplanting process outside in the raised beds. Not only do they have a piece of the garden growing in their classroom, they also have been learning about caterpillars and butterflies. They have been observing caterpillars for a few weeks in their room now and made a great suggestion to add milkweed to the flower garden to help attract more butterflies to the area. Pam is also excited about “incorporating small pumpkins from the garden for kindergarten through 2nd grade students to paint during the fall months next school year.”

With many classrooms with seedlings growing in windows and students eagerly sharing what fruit or vegetable they are most excited to grow in the garden, Tonica Grade School is bursting with energy. “I'm so excited to do more once we plant, go out and water, and I do have some kids that are sixth and seventh graders who have volunteered to come up and work in the garden during the summertime. They can bring their little brother or little sister or their mom or their dad, and water, weed and do all that good stuff,” Pam notes, which is the cherry on top for a small garden idea that now includes the full school and community.

A special thank you to Pam Schneider and Tonica Grade School for welcoming Rural Schools Collaborative and showing the RSC team the Community Garden project.