Arlington Heights students enjoy school garden harvest

The garden club at Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights held its first harvest celebration this month to serve and taste the foods they spent the year growing.

The event highlighted healthy and sustainable food that is easy for families to grow themselves, said school officials.

Thomas Middle School received a grant to build its garden in the spring and students have been meeting weekly to plant and harvest tomatoes, kale, sweet potatoes and more.

Students and families also watched cooking demonstrations and learned about gardening and composting from area farmers.

Food grown in the garden or brought to the event was donated to the Wheeling Food Pantry, according to district officials.

Fellow Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 school Windsor Elementary also hosted a “farm-to-table” event in October for students to taste test vegetables they had grown in the school’s garden.