Strathmore High School successfully acquires Gro for Good 2025 grant
By Melissa Piche Times Contributor
Strathmore High School is among one of five schools chosen from 200 submissions for the 2025 Gro for Good Grant, provided by Scotts Canada in partnership with Communities in Bloom.
The program intends to support community gardens and green spaces across the country through the provision of financial assistance and resources.
“What it does is there is a little bit of money involved and then there is also a video contest that goes along with it. Our school, as well as four other initiatives that received the Gro for Good grant this year, they will install their projects and then there will be a video competition for these groups to share what they have achieved this year,” said Cole Hintz, who teaches at Strathmore High School. “It is the first time that we were successful with the Gro for Good grant. It is a really successful initiative and it is not just targeted for schools. Most of the recipients historically have been larger community groups. We feel really privileged to be chosen as a school group.”
Strathmore High School’s project will be to plant five feet by five feet fruit tree guilds installed on campus, as well as at other participating local schools.
The guilds will also serve to feature pest-deterring species, as well as plants that accumulate nitrogen in the soil.
Having successfully been chosen for the grant, Strathmore High School will receive $2,500 to support their project. The video contest will be for another $2,500 towards whichever project is chosen as the winner.
“We more specifically targeted this grant less so from the financial side because we have really been supported in our community … but the storytelling side is something that we are really interested in,” said Hintz. “I think the things that our students are doing and the things that are happening across our division, especially from a growing and sustainability (perspective) is pretty exciting, and we were looking for an opportunity to continue to tell our story.”
Applications for the grant opened in January and were required to be completed by or before the end of February. Only the first 200 applications were considered for the grant.
Following the completion of the community greenhouse at Strathmore High School, the next goal on the list was to plant fruit tree guilds, creating areas that are both healthy for the environment and are productive for the local community.
The guilds are initially to be planted at Strathmore High School prior to the end of this educational year, then in the fall, the project will spread to other interested local schools.