Falls Church, VA — The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) has awarded Apples4Ed grants to five schools from around the nation for the 2023-24 school year. Each $5,000 grant will support initiatives that expose students to a wider variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and teach students about healthy eating habits.
The five winning schools are:
- Coral Reef Senior High School: Miami, FL
- Hoover Elementary: Yakima, WA
- Pine Haven Elementary: Jamestown, TN
- Throop Elementary: Paoli, IN
- Trailridge Elementary: Lee’s Summit, MO
More than 50 schools applied for an Apples4Ed grant this year. Applications were juried by a panel of judges for the level of creativity, longevity, student impact, logistics, and community involvement of the program.
Hoover Elementary, Throop Elementary, and Trailridge Elementary will be creating or improving upon school gardens – incorporating both hydroponics inside as well as gardens outside. The growing experience is a great way to help students make a connection between growing food, making good choices, and a healthy diet. Studies demonstrate people consume more produce when they take part in gardening.
Pine Haven Elementary will use the grant to improve the nutrition curriculum in their after-school Extended Learning Program. They will use fresh produce each week to show students how to create tasty dishes, making it fun – like reading about Johnny Appleseed and then making applesauce together.
Coral Reef Senior High School already has an impressive fresh produce program and they will use the grant to fund stainless steel preparation tables, a 3-shelf trolley cart, and a refrigerated salad station to help distribute campus-grown produce to students.
“Apples4Ed initiatives promote fresh produce in a context that resonates with students and has a long-term impact on healthy habits,” said Lynsee Gibbons, Director of Communications for USApple. “We’re proud to support schools in their creative efforts to expose students to fruits and vegetables in fun, engaging, and enjoyable ways.”
Thanks to the efforts of the 2023 NextGen Fellows, an additional $5,000 was raised through an online raffle the group promoted during USApple’s Outlook conference. Their hard work enabled a fifth school to receive a grant this year.
You can read more about the Apples4ed program and this year’s winners at Apples4Ed.com.
USApple is the national trade association representing all segments of the apple industry. Members include 36 state and regional apple associations, representing 26,000 apple growers throughout the country and more than 3,700 apple-related companies. Our members collectively grow more than 10 billion pounds of apples a year on average, supporting about 150,000 jobs and generating more than $8 billion in total wages and almost $23 billion in economic activity.
