Riverway Charter School, Minnesota City

Riverway Learning Community is committed to the foundation of a more hopeful and enlightened future by the development of an environment that nurtures the growth of mind, body and spirit, both as individuals and as members of the larger community. Riverway is a free, Minnesota public charter school currently in its eighth year, serving approximately 100 students in pre-primary-12th grade. Using integrated, thematic and project-based learning, Riverway empowers students to become independent and self-motivated, and to take ownership and responsibility for directing their learning.

Closing the Loop: From the Garden to the Lunch Table to a Healthier, More Sustainable World is a multi-facetted project that has the potential to sprout into a regional model that changes the way school children are fed, engages students in the process of examining and improving systems, and ultimately, through more sustainable practices, improves the quality of life for their family and their community. The beginnings of this project require a true community effort in all areas, including a wide base of support where multiple organizations ?come to the table?, and provide a nurturing soil that is essential for a bountiful harvest. Once the implementation is complete, Riverway will perpetuate the program through continued school resources, including students, parents and staff members, as well as, financial funding to maintain the program.

As a true community of learners, we have a responsibility to each other to make a positive difference in our world. With an emphasis on environmental education, we have dedicated this school year to the study of sustainability. As a recipient of a Minnesota Facilities Improvement Grant for charter schools, Riverway renovated their educational kitchen into a licensed kitchen in the summer of 2007 and proceeded to establish an in-house food service program that provides nutritious, made-from-scratch meals, with an emphasis on locally grown and organic foods. With the knowledge that what we eat influences how we interpret and interact with our world, and considering the fact that 75% of our families live in poverty, we recognize that our new food service has tremendous ramifications, including increased student achievement and improved school culture. These results have provided the impetuous for Riverway to explore ways to help our families have equal access to affordable, nutritious food.

Using the Frozen River Film Festival as an educational and inspirational springboard for engaging our students in meaningful community learning ventures, Riverway has designed a NEXT STEP project for social change that encompasses good nutrition, sustainable living practices, community partnerships and the power of the arts to empower our students to become community leaders and improve the environment through sustainable living practices.

Contact

http://www.rwlc.org/se3bin/clientschool.cgi?schoolname=school341
Laurie Krause
Phone: 507-689-2844
krausell@hbci.com