BETHEL — The G.O.T. Farms after-school program at Telstar Middle School has grown considerably since its beginning four years ago. Now, it includes cooking and working with many area businesses and churches, as well as an expansion of the gardens around the school.

Organizer Melissa Prescott, an art teacher at the school, wants to see it become an official extracurricular program with the same status and affiliations as sports and other district-sanctioned student activities.

“The kids have prepared part of the presentation that will go before the school board at a March board meeting,” she said Monday. “We don’t have acres to grow, but there is such a strong local food movement in the Bethel area.”

G.O.T. stands for Greenhouse of Telstar.

The greenhouse was restored with a grant several years ago. It has eight raised beds, trellises and a teepee-shaped gourd house. 

Part of the G.O.T. Farms mission is to raise awareness of eating locally and organically, and to partner with businesses and at least one area church.

Members of the Western Mountains Senior College have become garden-masters for the gardens during the summers. They coordinate care of the vegetables when school is out.

The nearby Bethel Alliance Church will soon be the recipient of an upgraded kitchen, thanks to an Engaging Youth Service Grant that G.O.T. Farms received. A middle school culinary club has been formed, with students using the church’s kitchen. Other groups will also be able to use it.

The students also help out at the church as servers during the monthly free community supper.

Also this past year, farmer Suzanne Dunham helps youngsters decide on a dish to prepare after school and then they eat it. In January, that dish was bacon and corn chowder with jalapeno corn bread, with vegan and gluten free options. The remainder of the soup was frozen for use during the church’s free supper.

In February, the program and its students will expand its learning by making herbal remedies such as lollipop cough drops, lip balms and all-natural insect spray.

“We’re working to figure out what makes kids excited and promotes sustainability,” she said. In art class, students can make bowls and mugs.

Prescott said the G.O.T. Farms group is also working to establish more partnerships with local food groups and businesses. The group already works with the University of Maine 4-H Camp & Learning Center at Bryant Pond.

During the winter months, the students are also learning to map the local food system and later this month, some students will become “seed parents.”

Seeds will be planted in flats for students to take home and care fore until it’s time to place them in the greenhouse.

On Thursday, a representative from UMO will visit the students to help them assess and reflected on their projects.

“G.O.T. started as a little thing, to renovate the greenhouse and grow a small garden. But we just couldn’t stop,” Prescott said.