After winning the Western Night grant competition held by BCEF, the Batesville Primary School garden committee wasted no time in putting the money to work.  Not even two weeks after the event, a brand new pergola was already added to the garden, enhancing the work area for the students.

“We’re happy to see local businesses and organizations supporting our programs,“ said BCEF Executive Director Anne Wilson. “Besides the grant from BCEF, the BPS team was also able to secure promised donations or discounted materials and labor for this project from Kroger, Leising Excavating and Mulch, Luke Pierson and staff, Gillman Home Center, and Ollier Masonry, as well as the Rural Alliance for the Arts. We hope to continue to work closely with business leaders in the community in gathering additional monetary donations for BCEF-related projects. The goodwill of those in our community has a direct effect on what BCEF can do for the BCSC students.”

Vickie Heil, BPS second grade teacher and garden coordinator added, “Our team is fortunate to also have many volunteers helping with this project. The BPS garden group includes BPS staff members Lori Barr, Rachael Berkemeier, Kera Gauck, Kathy Gutzwiller, Cathy Ollier, and Angie Weigel. Other volunteers are Mr. and Mrs. Chris Gauck, Brad Davis, Ella Gutzwiller, and my husband Tom, who serves as our volunteer general contractor. Through collaboration between BCEF, BCSC, business leaders, and volunteers, our garden is rapidly expanding. In fact, we recently found out that we were also awarded a grant for further garden additions from the Joan and John Hillenbrand Vision Fund for Innovation. This will enable us to continue to build on the improvements we made with the BCEF grant.”

Congratulations to BPS on this innovative learning experience for their students.