By Jessica Easthope
Fragrant notes of garlic, onion and basil pour out of Incarnation Catholic Academy in Queens Village. It’s not coming from the cafeteria โ it’s coming from a lab way up on the third floor.
“It’s supposed to be healthier for people who don’t have soil so they can put it here and build plants,” said Isaac Gil, a sixth-grader at Incarnation Catholic Academy.
Gil and his classmates suit up in their white lab coats and get to work, tending, snipping, watering and harvesting their fresh produce inside the hydroponics lab. Science teacher and chemist Maria Nenita Alonso says the work the kids do in the lab is rooted in environmental and economic sustainability.
“It’s really beneficial, especially here in New York where the winter and cold season is usually longer than the summer season so that even if you’re indoor you can still raise vegetables inside your houses,” Alonso said.
Growing produce without soil takes some trial and error. Gil is into the science and technology part of this STEM lesson.
“It’s interesting,” Gil said. “You could make plants with just water and like, seeds and a little sponge. It’s really cool.”
But his classmate Chassidy Tyrell says the engineering and math are what get her pumped up.
“Hands on stuff like this, we get to do problem solving, like, what’s wrong with the plants?” Tyrell said.
Mrs. Alonso explains to her students the plants need a lot of love, but once she planted the seed โ it bloomed.
“They’re very much involved in taking care of the plants,” Alonso said. “Maybe it’s because they know how to love each other, care for each other.”
Every few weeks the students harvest their produce. They take some home and share it with faculty.