Mantis and the National Gardening Association last week announced the winners of the 2009 Mantis Adopt-a-School Garden Program. Funded by a grant from Southampton, Pa.-based Mantis, 10 schools in the Greater Philadelphia Tri-State area will receive technical assistance, horticultural and garden education consultation, a $600 ASG Kit and a Mantis tiller/cultivator or Mantis ComposT-Twin composter to help lay the foundation for their garden program.

“This award will help teachers and children to engage in a successful plant-based educational program and create a hands-on learning environment that teaches, among other things, subjects on sustainability, nutrition, compostin, and more,” said Mike Metallo, president of NGA.

“The disparity between the public’s attitude toward school gardening programs and its awareness of existing programs is startling,” Metallo said. “It signals that NGA has a lot of work to do to raise public awareness of the benefits of school gardens. With help from companies like Mantis, we’ve created the ASG program to bridge the gap between schools needing funding for their school garden program and those companies having the resources and the desire to support schools and communities with gardening programs. It also illustrates the opportunity all of us have to help gardens become hands-on teaching tools and living laboratories at every school in the country.”

Applications were received from elementary, middle, and high schools located throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware. Preference was given to programs focusing on nutrition and sustainability. Winning schools of the 2009 Mantis Adopt-a-School Garden Program are:

• Cherry Hill School in River Edge, N.J.
• Archbishop Damiano School in Westville Grove, N.J.
• Culbertson Elementary School in Newtown Square, Pa.
• Olney High School – West, 704 in Philadelphia
• Kensington Culinary Arts High School in Philadelphia
• Sarah Starkweather Elementary in West Chester, Pa.
• Abraham Lincoln Elementary in Levittown, Pa.
• Wissahickon Charter School in Philadelphia
• East Side Charter School in Wilmington, Del.
• Forest Oak Elementary in Newark, Del.

Mantis representatives will visit each winning school to award ASG grant equipment and help educators and students launch their 2009 garden programs.

Mantis manufactures tiller/cultivators, dual-chamber composters, and many other gardener-friendly tools.

To learn more about NGA’s Adopt-a-School Garden program, visit http://assoc.garden.org/ag/asg/.