For the past three weeks, Ware Academy Upper School students have been volunteering at Ware Episcopal Church to benefit the Bread for Life Food Pantry. The sixth, seventh and eighth grade classes have worked in the church’s garden to harvest produce and prepare the garden for winter.

In a competition between the classes to see who could harvest the most green beans, the sixth graders came out on top by collecting a total of 14 pounds of the legume. The three classes together harvested over 50 pounds of produce for the food pantry.

Upper School social studies teacher Nikki Ames connected this experience with the school’s coursework on civics and what it means to be an engaged citizen. The Rev. Scott Parnell, rector of Ware Church, shared with students the prevalence of food insecurity in Gloucester County and how the students’ work in the garden is helping the situation.

The Ware Gardens provide hundreds of pounds of fresh produce every year that is directly donated to Bread f...