Composting program started at Trinity Christian Academy

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Students at Trinity Christian Academy (TCA) have started a compositing program to recycle waste from their lunches, creating compost with which to plant a new garden.

The program is a collaboration between a Grade 1 and a Grade 4 class at TCA. After students spent September and October learning about waste and how it affects the environment, they proposed an idea for the composting program, explained Katie Underwood, teacher of the participating Grade 4 class.

“They had the idea of reducing waste by taking our food waste and compositing it, so that it turns into something new,” she said.

The class reached out to the Town of Strathmore, which agreed to donate a household compost bin for each classroom. 

“We got the program off the ground a couple weeks ago, so we’re now reducing our food waste here,” said Underwood.

Each class in the school empties their lunchtime waste in the composting bin. Then, students from either of the classes leading the project empty the bins into a compost outside each day.

The class is taking a scientific approach, by comparing how fast the waste breaks down in the composting bins versus a vermicomposting bin, a system using worms to compost, which Underwood features in her classroom.

“We’ve been able to watch it break down our waste, and the worms are nice and happy,” she noted.

The goal for the compost generated is to use it for a new garden at the school, explained Sheila Neufeld, teacher of the participating Grade 1 class.

“We thought, what better way than to have fresh, organic, soil,” she said. “We teamed up with Grade 4 in helping them with the composting, so that in the spring when we plant our flowers, they’ll have brand new soil to use and be able to grow.”

The garden will be located near the school’s back entrance. The class will grow petunias from seed in the spring, then transplant them into the garden once they are large enough, said Neufeld.

According to TCA principal Stefan Dykema, the students have embraced the project.

“The students have been really excited to get involved in the initiative, whether it’s picking up the compost from individual classes, or even getting a chance to put it outside,” he said, adding the students are most excited for using the compost in the spring in a new garden.

For others interested in starting a composting program, Dykema recommends starting small.

“Do something your kids are going to get excited about, and really let the students drive it.”