Groton — On Thursday, Larry Fritch brought the lettuce that students grew at Ella T. Grasso Technical High School to the New London soup kitchen on Montauk Avenue.

By Friday, Peta Madry, kitchen manager of New London Community Meals, was washing it to make salad.

The school brought in "big amounts (of produce), definitely for a big dinner or two dinners," Madry said. The soup kitchen also receives donations from other gardens and local farms, he said.

The produce arriving from Grasso Tech is part of the school's Bioscience Environmental Technology shop, which teaches students about topics including marine biology, wastewater treatment, forestry and wetland conservation. Students also maintain habitats for fresh and saltwater fish and plant and tend dozens of garden beds.

In past years, one of the department's challenges was tending gardens during the summer. This year, the school worked with New London Youth Services and hired two students three days a week to weed, water, replant and harvest 66 raised garden beds and other landscaped areas. The bioscience department then brought produce to the soup kitchen twice a week.

Now that school is back in session, students also supply lettuce to their peers in the school's culinary arts department.

Erin Blake, 15, of Pawcatuck said of the plants, "We've donated them to the soup kitchen and to culinary, and sometimes we get to bring them home."

Work is still continuing. On Friday, one class stapled plastic material over frames to cover the raised garden beds. Another class tried to figure out how much hose it would need to run an irrigation system from one bed to the next.

James Burton, 15, of Ledyard took measurements and drew the irrigation system out on paper. His classmates figured it would take them a few days to finish, depending on how fast they work.

Grasso Tech also uses the outdoor growing area and greenhouse to teach basics including responsibility, awareness and initiative — if a plant's withering in the sun, take care of it; if there's a broom on the floor, pick it up.

"We run it like a workplace so that, when our kids go into the workplace, they say, 'It's just like shop,'" said Fritch, who teaches sophomores and seniors.

Seeing a plant go from garden to table also makes a connection for students.

"It brings home the bigger picture of why we teach these things," said Christopher McVeigh, instructor for ninth- and 10th-grade students in the program.

Hannah Vandevander, 15, of Pawcatuck said she likes working with plants and is pleased to see food go to the soup kitchen. "I feel proud because it's getting used and not just going to waste. And it also shows how hard we've worked," she said.

d.straszheim@theday.com