In the Spring of 2025, Upper School students in The Science and Sustainability of Food elective applied RCDS for the 2025 Whole Kids Foundation Garden Grant. This fall thanks to their hard work, the School was awarded the grant for the 2025-26 school year, receiving $3,500 to support new and existing gardens on campus. 

In their proposal, the Upper Schoolers outlined their specific vision to renovate and transform the Grandview Avenue Garden, adjacent to the RCDS Business Office, with the addition of updated raised beds, planters and pots, and materials that will make it possible to use the garden as an outdoor classroom space.

In addition to writing the grant, students in The Science and Sustainability of Food course engaged vigorously with the issue of food sources and preparation with an eye toward waste reduction. They were guided by the question: How can we act as citizens to support a more nutritious, equitable, and sustainable food system at our school and beyond?

Through hands-on cooking labs with FLIK Dining Services Head Chef Jaime Cordero, students worked collaboratively to prepare leftover fruit-and-peel smoothies, “ugly” produce guacamole and salsa, and carrot-peel and overripe banana cake. All of these recipes used ingredients that might have otherwise gone to waste! Enjoying them in the Dining Hall encouraged the RCDS community to be aware and responsible around the issue of food waste.

Lastly, the students led several campus-wide initiatives in support of reducing waste, such as Stop Food Waste Day and Food Waste Prevention Week. They also learned more about the ZEUS (Zero Emission Upcycling System) digester on campus, which was added to enable the School to conduct waste management in a  sustainable and environmentally friendly way. 

During the final weeks of school, The Science and Sustainability of Food class, along with Environmental students, made their own s'mores using a sun oven and also learned about the sustainability of chocolate.

I am proud of our students for enacting RCDS’s commitment to sustainability. The learning that happened through the grant writing process, waste reduction explorations, and other environmental initiatives has helped students understand how science impacts lived experience and vice versa.  
—Kerry Linderoth, RCDS Director of Sustainability, Teacher of The Science and Sustainability of Food Course