JENNINGS, Mo. — Crews from Spire were hard at work Wednesday afternoon, but not on a natural gas project. Instead, the energy company's teams were spread out between two schools in Jennings.
"We do a lot of work in this community," Justin Lopinot with Spire said. "We want to be out here supporting it."
In their bright orange shirts, Spire employees descended on Gary Gore Elementary and Jennings High School.
"We're building a greenhouse. We're helping to do gardens at the nearby high school and then we are doing some work on the sheds and other buildings on the main campus of Jennings," Lopinot said.
Spire is paying for it and paying their employees to be there.
The energy company has a program called "Your Day for Good" where every employee gets up to eight hours of paid time off to volunteer in the community.
The new garden beds look nice, but they're more than just something nice to look at.
"When we talk about student learning it promotes academic achievement, develops kids around environmental stewardship, increases social skills, learning how to work together, learning how to share," Jennings School District Superintendent Paula Knight told 5 On Your Side. "Most importantly, it helps the kids to have this value in eating healthy."
She said it builds connection with the natural world and self-confidence.
"It really instills that sense of value that they planted something that they are now able to prepare and eat at home with their family and friends," Knight said.
Spire said they picked the project because the link between natural gas and cooking goes hand-and-hand.
The garden beds and greenhouse are part of a bigger initiative, Spire will continue to support the school district after the work is done.
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