This school in Bantwal taluk does not have to buy vegetables and coconut to prepare the midday meal that is served to its students.
The food is made from fresh and organically grown vegetables that come from a sprawling vegetable garden, cared for by students and teachers in the school’s backyard.
Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School, Keddalike, in Kavalamudur village, has rightly bagged the
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The school also boasts of a headmaster who has received accolades — Ramesh Nayak Rayee was bestowed the national-level teachers award last September.
Mr. Nayak, who received the Parisara Mitra award along with a few students from his school at a ceremony here recently, said he carried forward his tryst with the environment started in Rayee village, Bantwal taluk, ever since he was transferred to the Keddalike school.
ADVERTISEMENT
One child, one tree
A variety of vegetables are grown on the school premises depending upon the season, he said. While his school has 138 students, 150 fruit-bearing tree saplings are planted on the campus, each one named after one student. This is to ensure belongingness among the students.
The two-acre school campus is also dotted with 45 coconut trees, whose yields are also used for midday meal preparation. During holidays, vegetables and coconut are sold to fetch a small income to the school, and teachers and students continue to water the plants and harvest the crop on rotation, Mr. Nayak said.
Extends to homes
The green drive is not just confined to the school premises and has been extended to the houses of students too. Parents of the students have been supplied with five different varieties of tree saplings, and they were nourishing the trees with their children, Mr. Nayak said.
The school has also received awards for cleanliness at the taluk and district levels.