Alpha Beta Beta members from Hillsborough Community College’s Ybor City Campus won the “Outstanding School” award from Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful for their accomplishments and success with their Honors in Action program. They have been working this fall semester with the local YMCA afterschool program. Thirty-eight third graders participated in the afterschool program at Sulphur Springs Elementary school for a total of eight weeks. Over 95% of the students receive free or reduced lunches and over 95% of students are minorities.

  From research conducted, studies show that children in the Sulphur Springs neighborhood have higher rates of obesity and food insecurity. This area is also considered a food desert; an area void of healthy food choices. After learning that the elementary school had wanted to create a garden for the past four years with no luck, the chapter decided it would be the perfect school for collaboration.

  Students learned about the components of soil, the purpose of worms and compost, how to apply multiplication and division in the garden, how to identify plant anatomy and function, and the concepts of germination, pollination, the nutrient cycle, the gas cycle, the water cycle, ecology, biodiversity, the scientific method, evapotranspiration, photosynthesis, plant dissection, and nutrition. Students engaged in hands-on activity that encouraged team building and critical thinking. They will continue this program in throughout spring semester.