LEWISTON — Students in the 21st Century program Thursday at Lewiston Middle School harvested greens that were grown in a hydroponic unit.

The greens were brought to other students, who prepared a sandwich and a dessert using some of the ingredients that were just picked.

“My favorite part of it is that you grow your own food and make your own food,” said Gauge Locke, a seventh grader at the school. “You can make a salad or anything.”

How about a pesto chicken sandwich? Or mint ice cream?

“I’m learning that it is possible that you can grow plants without soil,” seventh grader Sebastian Pekrel said. “You just need to feed them the nutrients in the water.”

About two dozen students gathered in the school cafeteria to harvest leafy greens and herbs they have grown indoors in the school’s hydroponic gardens.

“When it gets grown out like this, they’re ready to make stuff like boc choi soup next week,” said Jennifer Darigan, the school department’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act federal program coordinator, who helps obtain the grants to fund the 21st Century program. “They have edible flowers, peas and basil. I think the exciting piece of this is that the students are harvesting and taking them and exploring with that.”

The hydroponic units are just one part of the 21st Century program.

“The goal is to have a literacy component, a STEM component, health and wellness, leadership,” said Gretchen Pleasant, coordinator for 21st Century. “With all of the components, we do work farms, we do cooking, we do sewing, quilting, woodworking, painting, they do basket weaving. We teach a lot of different hands-on skills that they may not have an opportunity to do.”

“Each flex farm will grow 25 pounds of edible greens in 28 days for about a dollar per pound,” said Sam Malesa, the partnership development director for Fork Farms, who make the hydroponic units. “There is no shortage of people who have limited access to food. If we can get that food access expanded and have that as a healthy option such as fresh greens, that’s a huge win.”

The Lewiston 21st Century program has purchased at least one hydroponic unit for every school in the city with federal funds. Because of that, some middle school students have vast experience using the hydroponic technology.

This year, Lewiston has $600,000 for the program. It pays for staff, program supplies and contractual services, such as photography instructor or animal care, Darigan said.

Thursday’s after-school activity focused on growing plants that allow the students the freedom develop their own prepared foods, utilizing basil and mint.

“I get to choose the project I want to do,” said Pyker Dresser, an eighth grade student, who is participating in the program for the first time. “There’s so many options.”

“We want the imagination of the students to run wild and do what inspires them to cook a great pesto sandwich,” Malesa said.