Education United States Project #21688

Create Garden Classrooms at 3 Low-Income Schools

by Jovial Concepts

Create Garden Classrooms at 3 Low-Income Schools

Project Report | Jan 11, 2018
A Growing Culture

By Mike Spade | School Programs Manager

Most children don't know what they want to be when they grow up. Not Fatima. At the tender age of 10, she knows she is destined to be a dentist. She already has looked into how many years of college education it would take, and the amount of debt she would incur throughout the process. Fully aware of the struggle it would be to complete this goal from her modest upbringing, Fatima forges ahead undeterred. Participating in an afterschool gardening program is just one of the beginning steps in her mind. How better to look after her teeth, than to learn about the food she has to eat everyday of her life for years to come? It just "makes sense" she says, after detailing her lifelong ambitions. Unbeknownst to her, the wisdom behind that simple statement is exactly what we hope to cultivate in our garden classrooms.

This Spring at Eagleton Elementary we will manage a greenhouse and several raised beds in order to produce herbs, greens, and spices to be used in their school lunches. While we will be growing several different crops and flowers, the true focus will be growing a culture of youth who are not only informed about their local food system but actively participating in it. We need more boys and girls like Fatima who are invested in making better choices regarding food on a daily basis. Who know that this is not just about 2 hours of afterschool programming, but about building a foundation for a wholesome lifestyle.

What is most important is the fact that we involve these youth in our food system and give them the sense that they can be active participants in our society. With every tomato that these students plant, nurture, harvest, and then transport to their school cafeteria we are not only simultaneously improving their health, physically and mentally, but empowering them to take a stand in their community. We want our students to know that they can provide for themselves, their family, and their peers. With your support we can continue to make that a reality for students like Fatima throughout Denver and Jefferson County.

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Oct 13, 2017
Economic Advantages

By Kristina Welch | Executive Director

Jul 10, 2017
Cultivating Career Choices for Cierra

By Mike Spade | School Programs Manager

As a young woman of color in America, Cierra faces several challenges on a daily basis. Especially when it comes to economic security and education. Even though she is only in fourth grade, this harsh reality can be hard to ignore when the median household income in your neighborhood is less than $9000, less than 25% of your classmates are meeting expectations on standardized testing, and the nearest grocery store is more than two miles away. While these may not seem correlated, how can we expect someone to meet expectations for attaining education when basic nutritional needs are constantly ignored? Living in impoverished communities and especially food deserts like Barnum, where Cierra lives and goes to school, there always seems to be limited options.

But that should not be the case, nor does it have to be. Women of color will soon make up more than 50% of the female population. If we do not prepare them with education and other training opportunities, we are perpetuating a disservice onto them and our communities as a whole. By providing innovative options for school programming, we not only diversify a child's education, but furthermore provide them with a shot at self-sufficiency if not social mobility. With our garden classrooms and Plant The Seed Project, we aim to do just that. Not only do we teach youth how to grow food but we give them the notion that they can be involved in the food system. This active involvement provides more than a mere introduction to urban agriculture, but the availibility to take ownership through development of a craft. Also by using tools, such as the microscopes, hydroponic towers, and vermiculture bins, we can help students such as Cierra develop a comfortability that they might not otherwise have with scientific instruments through first-hand exposure.

To learn to appreciate the depth of knowledge you can obtain from a microscope and see a future in a lab, you must not only demonstrate proficiency but allow the students to get a feel for the precision of using the instrument themselves. We want them to go home feeling like they can contribute in a positive way to their community, not only this afternoon but for the forseeable future. Cierra and students like her, need to craft a new narrative about their communities. One that involves them and furthermore has them ushering the way toward a more sustainable future. They can only do so, if we provide them with the resources to.

That goes far beyond teaching them to grow their own food in different media, and showing them how to monitor for change. Which we recognize. We will need to empower them to feel as if they can make lasting changes. Cultivating a curiosity for an otherwise foreign topic, not only opens up their scope of knowledge but provides to opportunity to pursue what could be a potential passion or career path. With your help, we can steer Cierra and young girls of color throughout Denver towards agriculture, technology, or science in general

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