South Middle School Students Plan for the Future with City of Waukee Staff
Eight South Middle School (SMS) students presented their ideas for city and agricultural improvements to Waukee city employees on April 9.
Students starting working in groups of two in February to create the four projects that were presented. The projects focused on the benefits vertical farms and greenhouses provide for the community. Vertical farms are structures with vertically slanted surfaces or stacked layers used to grow and produce food. This method saves space and allows farming to occur in a suburban or city setting.
Pictured in back: Miles Sierra, Danae Edwards – Recreation Supervisor, Summer Evans- Marketing & Communications Director, Brad Deets- Development Services Director, Andy Kass, and Melissa DeBoer
Front row: Sarang Kothari, Anden Barriage, Jackson Minton, Lilly Froehlich, Anwitha Vempati, and Adam Koch
“I learned a lot about the future of agriculture and cities with this project. It was fun to present to Waukee officials, who gave us real insight on the future and capabilities of Waukee,” said SMS seventh grade student Adam Koch.
In preparation for their presentations, the students learned about business concepts and professional behaviors with assistance from SMS Extended Learning Program teacher Karlee McKibban.
“I believe this project allowed students to use concepts from their science curriculum to develop a creative project that had a real-world purpose,” McKibban said.
Anden Barriage and Jackson Minton’s “Growall” presentations was a favorite among the city employees. The goal of their project was to create a community that embraces vertical gardens, and to construct a greener, cleaner, pesticide-free world.
Barriage and Minton spent two weeks piecing together the website for the presentation and a month and a half developing and finalizing their ideas for the City of Waukee meeting. The website addressed their specific idea and the cost impact these projects could have on the city.
“Working on this project helped me learn a lot about the environment, and I enjoyed making the website for presenting,” said SMS seventh grade student Jackson Minton.
Students also analyzed how these types of economical improvements could positively affect Waukee over the next 20 years.
