With support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the University of Georgia’s Office of Service-Learning and East Jackson Comprehensive High School are growing their partnership to introduce service-learning to a younger generation.
This fall, the Office of Service-Learning received a $240,000 grant from the USDA to expand service-learning opportunities at East Jackson. The grant will support interdisciplinary, project-based learning centered around reducing food insecurity in Jackson County. UGA will help develop service-learning classes connected to high school curriculum which utilize school gardens and greenhouses, incorporate agricultural partnerships and address real-world challenges.

“It’s inspiring being able to engage with high school students and teachers through this grant,” said Paul Matthews, associate director of the Office of Service-Learning and project director for the USDA grant. “This partnership allows our office to combine both our instruction and public service missions and provide students with hands-on experience working in and with their community and school.”

The Office of Service-Learning began working with East Jackson in 2022, helping develop a new service-learning course elective for the school. This USDA grant, which also includes collaborations with UGArden, Campus Kitchen at UGA, and the Mary Frances Early College of Education, is providing more service-learning opportunities for students as they begin high school through East Jackson’s new STEM program, RISE – Research & Innovation in Science & Engineering. The RISE program was introduced this year to ninth-grade students and is designed to combine all STEM subjects with a focus on solving real-world problems.
“We are grateful for all the support we have received through the USDA grant and the University of Georgia,” said East Jackson Principal Matt Stratemeyer, “and we look forward to providing our students with world-class learning opportunities that impact our community.”
This fall, East Jackson RISE teachers and students focused on topics of health and wellness, and students visited UGArden and the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. To end the year, the students hosted a wellness fair at the school, where members of the community and their peers could learn about their research, from studies on nutrition and dieting to physical and mental health.

Going into the program’s second semester, the RISE program will focus on a project that will involve components of STEM, service-learning, and food insecurity specifically. With support from Allyson Morgan, a UGA doctoral student in education, teachers are working to create a curriculum that is focused on problem-solving and STEM while meeting the needs of the community.
“It’s so nice to see the students so excited and looking into topics that are important to them,” Morgan said. “This is so different—getting that hands-on experience—and engagement is up.”

Michael Shawler, STEM coordinator at East Jackson, said one key project would be to enhance the school’s food bag program. As a Title I school, Shawler said there are many students who go home with food supplies on the weekends. These food bags consist of mostly boxed and canned food, though, and not many fresh vegetables and produce.
The USDA grant could support an interdisciplinary project around utilizing gardens at the school to provide healthier food options. Shawler noted that these projects have a natural fit with STEM topics, such as teaching students how to design the garden using math, learning about testing the soil and pesticides through science, studying hydroponics and CAD (computer-aided design) in engineering, and even writing fictional stories about food insecurity in language arts classes.
“Seeing students make connections between the courses is powerful,” Shawler said. “It all ties in together, and it’s been great forming this partnership with UGA to benefit the community.”

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Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.