Students at The Ratner School ‘Go Green’ Through Vermiculture Production
By: Mary Patton, The Ratner School
The Lillian and Betty Ratner School in Pepper Pike continues its commitment to recycling and helping those in need by increasing its in-school vermiculture production. This April, a group of the school’s 5th and 6th graders made a new bin for special vermiculture worms. Vermiculture is the process of creating extremely rich compost by giving fruit and vegetable “garbage” to Eisenia fetida earthworms—red wrigglers. The worms then digest the produce, and their “castings” become a rich fertilizer, or concentrated potting soil.
Cleveland-based Sansai Environmental Technologies, LLC donated the red wrigglers to The Ratner School. The students provided the bedding for each bin made of shredded paper from the school’s recycling efforts and then used the vermiculture compost to enhance the soil of the school’s organic Mitzvah Garden. The produce from the garden, in turn, is donated to residents of several group homes run by The Cleveland Jewish Family Services.
Maureen Browne, editor of EarthWorm Digest, visited The Ratner School for the second time to work with the students on this special project. “The students have taken excellent care of the earthworms,” Ms. Browne said. “They have divided the bins well, seen the numbers increase and multiply, and continued collection of food from the cafeteria very responsibly. The students did a great job applying the castings to new sprouts in the garden. All the hard work is paying off. In the next couple of months, the garden will produce some healthy vegetables.”
According to Ratner School teacher Phyllis Meyers, last year’s vermiculture production enabled the school to donate 140 pounds of produce from the garden to various group homes. The students have also kept a journal of their worm ranching experiences.
“Coordinating the planning and implementation of the Mitzvah Garden and the vermiculture project have been personally gratifying,” said Meyers. “The philosophy of the school matches my own. There is a willingness to empower the students, try new things and take risks, especially where the benefits may be great. I have complete support from the administration and faculty to complete the full circle of recycling and giving back to the community. That’s a powerful lesson to teach our students. I wish all children could be part of something like this in their schools.”
For more information on Ratner School, call 216-464-0033 or visit www.theratnerschool.org. For more information on worm composting contact Earth Worm Digest at 216-531-5374 or visit www.wormdigest.org.