When Winslow Middle Schooler Richard Manuel changes classes, he likes to peek in into the courtyard and check on his kids in the nursery.
Do they look happy? Do they have water? Are they fed?
At just 13, Richard already has strong fatherly instincts — for a plant dad.
The seventh-grader is studying Environmental STEM at the middle school. His classmates have become mothers and fathers to the nature growing in two school courtyards. Soon, they’ll be raising seedlings into thriving adult plants in a $300,000 grant-funded greenhouse on campus grounds.
Winslow Township Schools’ support of sustainability has earned the middle school hundreds of thousands in grants for green initiatives since 2017.
Recently it earned U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon status.
While the school district invested in solar panels, reflective windows and energy efficient lighting, its green philosophy…
