Students from left to right, Rider Hill, Ayden Deaguero, Bomani Birdwell-Young, Asher Higgenbottom, Cindy Strom and Emma Woodard pose for a photo inside Sherrill Stead’s classroom Thursday afternoon at Toledo Middle School.
A plant sprouts from a recycled k-cup inside Sherrill Stead’s classroom Thursday afternoon at Toledo Middle School.
Cindy Strom, center, talks about why her and fellow classmates at Toledo Middle School chose this project.
Plants and lights wrap around vertical hydroponic garden towers inside Sherrill Stead’s classroom Thursday afternoon at Toledo Middle School.
Sherrill Stead talks about paying for parts of the project with her own money Thursday afternoon at Toledo Middle School.
Ayden Deaguero talks about growing plants inside Sherrill Stead’s classroom Thursday afternoon at Toledo Middle School.
Bomani Birdwell-Young talks about the vertical hydroponic garden towers inside Sherrill Stead’s classroom Thursday afternoon at Toledo Middle School.
Toledo middle schoolers have been named semifinalists in the nationwide Samsung Solve For Tomorrow contest for their work with hydroponics. As a semifinalist, the school will receive $15,000 to purchase new technology for science classes.
The Samsung Solve For Tomorrow contest focuses on increasing students’ proficiency in science, math, engineering and technology (STEM). If the Toledo seventh- and eighth-graders advance further in the competition, they could win even more money for their school.
Science teacher Sherrill Stead has been teaching students how to work the hydroponic farming system, which doesn’t include soil, for several years now, but the possibility of using the project to enter the Samsung contest was brought to her attention within the last two years.
“I have always been proud of their accomplishments, but their commitment to the hydroponic project exceeds my expectations,” Stead said. “Science is really an integrated content area. When you look at hydroponics, you’re looking at biology, chemistry, physics, math and technology. We do everything in this one project.”
Nationwide, only 75 schools were named semifinalists, and for the small Toledo Middle School, this is quite an accomplishment, Stead said. Using the prize money, she said they plan to purchase supplies and sensors that measure the nutrients in the water, the light and other factors in the plant’s environment to help students know how to optimize growth.
“We’re going to get to buy some supplies that we wouldn’t normally be able to afford, like water pumps and better lighting — a lot of the lights we are using now are donated, from my kitchen or Christmas lights that I’m not using. The students picked out grow lights and the money will purchase those and help keep this project going for years,” Stead said.
Students are using a vertical hydroponic farming system with grow lights, built by students, to grow celery, spinach, tomatoes, green beans, bell peppers, lettuce and other crops in the science classroom. The tall wooden structures, which are located in the back of Stead’s classroom, are lined with plants that are hooked to a system that provides a continuous water flow.
The middle schoolers are learning about how nitrates, phosphates and magnesium are used by the plants and how much each plant needs to grow.
On Thursday afternoon, project leaders Rider Hill, Cindy Strom, Ayden Deaguero, Asher Higgenbottom, Emma Woodard and Bomani Birdwell-Young explained how they measure the nutrients in the water, set up the hydroponics system and their plans for the food once it is ready to harvest.
“We’re doing this project for the families in Toledo that are in need of food, and after everything is grown, we will be taking it down to the food bank,” Strom said.
The students built the wooden structures and, to hook up the lighting, a parent who is a licensed electrician came into the class to help out. The community supported the project by collecting and donating seeds, lighting and containers for the students to use.
“I am incredibly proud of the work our students and Mrs. Stead are doing. I have never seen anything like the hydroponics project, and to see the process happening and things starting to grow is amazing. I am so excited to see the outcome of their work,” Toledo Middle School Principal Sheila Holter said.
Stead’s science class’ next step is to create a video showing the working hydroponic prototype and explaining how and why they use the data that is collected to help the plants thrive. Their video is due to Samsung in late March, and soon after they will find out if they advance further in the contest.
Those interested in donating supplies toward the Toledo Middle School’s science project can contact Sherrill Stead at sstead@toledoschools.us.
