Inside the hallways of Wareham Elementary School, growth and education sprout not only for the kids, but for the vegetables they grow as a part of the school's partnership with the FoodCorps program.

FoodCorps is a national non-profit run by AmeriCorps, a federal agency that connects communities with organizations to offer a variety of volunteer services. The goal of FoodCorps is to partner with schools and communities to help kids understand how to grow food sustainably and where it comes from.

Paul Costa is the FoodCorps service member at the elementary school and he said the program is aimed at teaching mostly third graders a variety of gardening skills.

"The kids do everything to grow the vegetables," said Costa. "They put the soil in, cultivate it, plant the seeds, water them and cover them. I just show them how to do it."

The kids are growing a variety of produce like broccoli, kale, tomatoes, radishes and more and Costa added the kids are learning to grow them sustainably.

"There's a cover crop in the raised beds that the kids planted and what that does is hold the soil and we show the kids how to turn the crop over to enhance the soil and then they can start planting their produce," said Costa.

On top of teaching the kids sustainable gardening practices, Costa explained the program strengthens the connection between the students and food because they see where it is coming from.

"If you ask a child where their food comes from they will say the grocery store or a delivery truck and they don't have that link between the cranberry bog and cranberry sauce," said Costa. "They see the corn fields but they don't recognize the connection between that and the cafeteria."

Since the program started at the elementary school two years ago, Costa said he has seen kids be able to make those connections and develop an appreciation for fresh, locally sourced food.

"The kids come and pick their tomatoes and they go 'oh wow we grew these' and they want to hang on to everything they've grown," said Costa.

He added kids will come up to him in the hallway and "ask for extra peas" and he said he will pick them right off the plant and give it to them.

"All of a sudden the kids are interested in greens and we are trying to put that thought process in their mind so when they're at the grocery store with their parents they say 'we're learning about greens in school, why don't we get some brussel sprouts,'" said Costa.

Another part of the program aims to create a "farm to school" pipeline In order to help the kids make healthier choices. As a part of that mission, Costa said the school cafeteria will harvest what the kids grow and serve it during lunch.

Another way FoodCorps is trying to create this pipeline is by partnering with the Marion Institutes Frogfoot Farm. A farm dedicated to supplying people in need with fresh, local produce by donating all of their harvested crop to local food pantries and Costa said he hopes to get local food donated to the schools.