On Saturday, March 30th at 10 am students, parents, faculty, and community members are joining forces to plant an orchard in the central courtyard of Munster High School as part of the school’s interdisciplinary STEM project--Project GREEN. Project GREEN is a 3 -5 year long interdisciplinary project that brings together classes from a variety of disciplines within the school. Approximately, 350 students will participate in the project over time including classes such as Botany, computer science, engineering, art, family and consumer science, and more.
The orchard planting component will be led by Master Gardener and Purdue Extension Educator, Ms. Nikki Witkowski. In her workshop participants will learn the basics of fruit tree planting and care as well as the best varieties to plant in our region. The school orchard will consist of approximately 20 trees including dwarf cherry trees, two varieties of pear, and starts of red raspberries. This orchard represents a major step in project GREEN as students have been planning the school garden program for over a year. Munster High School is fortunate to partner with Purdue University Extension to purchase the trees through a grant by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.