KIPP Philadelphia Elementary Academy was awarded the Project Learning Garden after applying to the Captain Planet Foundation. Dole committed resources to the effort in conjunction with a recently completed Earth Day program with ShopRite stores.
“Here at Dole, we understand the importance of teaching children the benefits of incorporating fruits and vegetables into their diet, whether they are enjoying fresh produce from their learning garden, or a healthy Dole snack,” said Larry White, Vice President, Sales, Dole Packaged Foods. “By partnering with the Captain Planet Foundation and ShopRite, we are helping more students learn about and develop healthy habits.”
“Anything can be taught in the context of the garden, and hands-on learning supports student understanding of natural systems, food origins, and healthy eating,” explained Leesa Carter, executive director of Captain Planet Foundation. “Captain Planet Foundation is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of environmental stewards, and ensuring they are armed with an understanding of the natural world in which they live. We are thrilled to be working with Shoprite and Dole to provide KIPP Academy with a CPF Learning Garden!”
"We are proud to partner with Dole to provide this Learning Garden to KIPP Elementary Academy” said Sandy Brown of Brown Super Stores, Inc., which owns and operates ShopRite supermarkets in the Delaware Valley. "At ShopRite, we are always looking for ways to improve the quality of the life for the families we serve, especially children, through education around nutrition and healthy living. Giving back to our neighborhoods is incredibly important to us.”
ShopRite Dietitian Victoria Della Rocca worked with students to make a salad with radishes, mixed lettuces, spinach, and several kinds of herbs harvested from the school garden. She also taught the children how to make pineapple vinaigrette dressing for the salad.
“The garden provides students and teachers a chance to take their learning out of the classroom,” said KIPP Philadelphia Elementary Academy Principal Ben Speicher. “It provides a valuable opportunity for them to put into practice the lessons being taught in the classroom. By working with members of our learning community, we will continue to provide new and exciting learning experiences for our students.”
About KIPP Philadelphia Elementary Academy
KIPP Philadelphia Schools is a part of the KIPP, or the Knowledge is Power Program, network open enrollment, college-preparatory public charter schools. KIPP is a non-profit network of college-preparatory, public charter schools serving elementary, middle, and high school students. It has a 20-year track record of preparing students in educationally underserved communities for success in college and life. The schools are a part of the free public school system and enrollment is open to all students. KIPP charter schools are given more academic and budgetary flexibility than traditional public schools, and in exchange commit to deliver high-quality academic results for students.
There are nearly 200 KIPP schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia serving nearly 70,000 students on their path to and through college. KIPP believes that excellent academics, safe and structured schools, empowered teachers, an emphasis on character development and support through college are the foundation for student success, and we strive to provide this for every student.
About Dole Packaged Foods
Dole Packaged Foods LLC is a world leader in growing, sourcing, distributing and marketing fruit and healthy snacks. Dole sells a full-line of packaged ambient fruit, frozen fruit, dried fruit, and juices. The company focuses on four pillars of sustainability in all its operations: water management, carbon footprint, soil conservation and packaging. For more information please visit www.dolesunshine.com or www.doleintlcsr.com.
About ShopRite
ShopRite is the registered trademark of Wakefern Food Corp., a retailer-owned cooperative based in Keasbey, NJ, and the largest supermarket cooperative in the United States. With more than 270 ShopRite supermarkets located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves more than six million customers each week. Through its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, ShopRite is dedicated to fighting hunger in the communities it serves. Since the program began in 1999, ShopRite Partners In Caring has donated $43 million to food banks that support more than 2,100 worthy charities. As a title sponsor of the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer, ShopRite has donated $30 million to local organizations, hospitals and community groups. For more information, please visit www.shoprite.com.
About Captain Planet Foundation (CPF)
Based on the critically acclaimed animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers, CPF was co-founded in 1991 by media mogul Ted Turner and producer Barbara Pyle. Since then, the Captain Planet Foundation has played a critical role in helping to ensure that the next generation of business leaders and policy makers are environmentally literate citizens who leverage technology and information to manage and protect the air, land, and water upon which all life depends.
CPF is a grant-making foundation that has funded over 2,000 hands-on environmental education projects with schools and non-profits that serve children in all 50 U.S. states and in 23 countries internationally. More than 1.2 million children have directly participated in and benefited from these educational projects. In addition to its Small Grants Program, the Captain Planet Foundation also operates the following programs: Project Learning Garden, the Leadership Center, SAGES, Planeteer Clubs, and several other science education initiatives that exploit the intersections between technology, innovation, the environment and personal action. For more information: www.captainplanetfoundation.org.
