TOWN OF TONAWANDA — Students growing food for a school cafeteria may seem like an unlikely project.

Not, however, to members of the Science Club at Cardinal O’Hara High School.

Members of the club broke ground in the fall with the intention of growing a garden for the school lunch program.

“The students enjoyed playing in the dirt,” says club moderator Marley Smith.  “Knowing that the garden will produce vegetables for the newly anticipated salad bar was a huge motivation factor to recruit more 16 students to get down and dirty.”

While digging the garden and then bringing in wheelbarrow loads of topsoil, Smith noticed some students in the weight room adjoining the science lab.

“I told them if they wanted to really lift some weights, they could help move dirt,” she laughed.

And they did.

An added bonus to the project came recently with the news that the science club’s garden project is the recipient of a grant for $490 from the Niagara Frontier Association of the Air & Waste Management Association, part of the organization’s Earth Day grants.

“We were so happy to hear that,” Smith said.

Gyeong Eun Jo, a junior, said she loves planting.

“My mom loves to plant and I like all kinds of science,” she said.

Philip Spagna, a junior, said he’s made new friends through the science club.

“We’ve done some cool stuff like make rock candy and soap and getting ready for planting was great,” he said.

Lettuce and herbs planted in early spring will be ready for the cafeteria in a month or so, while peppers, carrots, tomatoes and squash will be available for fall, Smith said.

“We’ll be putting in fencing to keep the rabbits out,” Nancy Cliff, the school nurse, an avid gardener and a member of the planting team, said.

“Student excitement continues to grow as they brainstorm ways to involve the whole student body in planting,” Smith said.

To help fund science club projects and trips to places including visiting the Corning Museum of Glass, the Rochester Science Center for the CSI exhibit and fingerprint analysis lab, students sponsored fundraisers including a floor hockey tournament.

Smith also showed off the science lab which recently received “a much needed makeover.”

The upgrades include six new Mac mini-computers, new physics equipment, Smartboards and a Moticam, a camera with a high resolution device.  

“These technological tools will enhance the students’ learning capabilities,” Smith said.

All these enhancements have helped Cardinal O’Hara bring the science program up to the highest standards, allowing students to engage in extracurricular science activities, Smith added.

“But first we’re just going to play in the mud and get our hands dirty,” she laughed.