As a way to give their students a hands on learning experience and take the learning outside the classroom, students and teachers at Boardman Glenwood Junior High made their own recycled garden.

"It's very cool that we are able to learn outside," Lucas Beggs said.

"Basically, everyday in science we come out here and do either a project or learn about something," Tanner Dravrcky said.

It's a space the students love and in fact, has received national recognition.

Over the Summer, the garden won first place in the Terracycle Brita & Meijer recycled garden contest, beating out hundreds of other schools across the country.

A retail manager for Terracycle says using recycled material for parts of the garden helps, "fulfill the business's mission."

"The purpose is making sure those products don't go to landfill, but actually have a long lasting second life, like what we did here, by transforming Brita products into recycled benches, tables, waste receptacles to make sure they have a useful second life," Caroline Martin, Senior Retail Business Manager for Brita said.

The school already used some of the 15-thousand dollar prize money to create a rain garden which will help collect runoff water from the installation of a new concrete pavilion.

"We understood we are taking away the grass and the water has to go somewhere," Scott Lenhart, Science teacher at Boardman Glenwood Jr. High said. "So, we wanted to be responsible and create this space, so the kids designed their own rain garden."

Project based learning that's giving these students a hands-on opportunity to learn about and even solve important real world issues.