Middle School

KIPP DC Connect Academy

This grant will make it possible for the KIPP DC Webb Campus to build a garden that will enhance the school community by increasing fresh food engagement, education, and access. By growing healthy food, we not only will improve the eating habits of students, faculty, and community alike, but we will also utilize the garden as a critical tool for experiential learning.

James G. Blaine Elementary Schoo

The Blaine School Strawberry Mansion Environmental Learning Center (Strawberry Mansion Childrens’ Garden or SMCG) will allow Blaine School to form a lasting partnership with Urbanstead that allows for community development and youth leadership throughout North Philadelphia through farming in the city. Both Urbanstead and Blaine School will utilize the garden as an extended classroom for Blaine students in grades K-8. In addition this project will supply fresh, locally grown produce to students and the community.

Holy Family Catholic School

As Americans statistically spend more time indoors, we see our children affected by increased feelings of isolation, inactivity and behavioral disorders (Taylor & Kuo, 2009). Our wish is reverse this trend and contribute to our children’s health and well-being by creating a safe, beautiful garden space. There are intense health and therapeutic benefits tied to early childhood exposure to gardening. We will also concretely link the growing effort to our curriculum and giving bank.

Harbor View Elementary School

Harbor View elementary school has always been committed to raising healthy kids. This year we are taking it even a step further and creating the "Fit Mind Healthy Body" initiative. As part of the initiative we as a school community want to add to the four raised beds at HV and expand our garden and get the kids involved in planting, growing, maintaining, and utilizing what they grow in the Harbor View kitchen and the curriculum. We already have a fruit cart and we want to expand our garden to grow what we sell/eat.

Thomas Page Academy

Our mission is to provide a rich and inspiring outdoor classroom in which learning comes alive. Our broad program goals are as follows :

Miller Middle School

Miller Middle School administration, faculty, Student Council, MPAC and The Garden Project are working together to establish a comprehensive plan for the Miller Garden. We envision a school-wide environmental studies program incorporating lessons in urban gardening, habitat biodiversity, environmental management, civil engineering, sustainability, horticulture, and ecology. The majority of our students had school gardens at the three elementary schools they attended.

PS 89

The WITS Tower Garden will be the primary feature of the WITS Green for Kids program, with the goal of increasing environmental awareness and develop sustainable practices in public schools. Because the Tower Gardens are mobile, students can connect to nature anywhere in their school, year-round. The Tower Gardens will be featured in the WITS Green Labs, hands-on educational classes on sustainability topics; used to support the WITS Culinary Labs; and also made available to teachers for use in their curricula.

Great River School

We currently have a garden that we want to expand to include more fruit and vegetables. We want to add a natural berry "fence" to give protection from the street. This would include blueberries and raspberries. We would also add raised garden beds for a strawberry patch. We would plan three columnar apple trees along the east side of the garden as a cover from the back/walking path. We plan to add several more raised garden beds that would house lettuce, spinach and kale. There would also be a root vegetable area with beets, carrots, potatoes and turnips.

Boston Green Academy

Our goal is to integrate garden education throughout the curriculum at Boston Green Academy. With this grant, we will have the opportunity to involve many different classes in the design, building, and maintenance of different types of garden technology, helping to connect students with real food and providing them the hands-on skills they will need to succeed in the green industry. We will also be able to increase our garden’s capacity, allowing us to hold larger garden events that reach out to our community food pantries, farmers markets and surrounding schools.

Hilton Head Preparatory School

Hilton Head Prep recently integrated HI-5-a health initiative that addresses: (1) Community Outreach, (2) Personal & Physical Development, (3) Joy & Spiritual Wellness, (4) Relationships and (5) Food & Nutrition. HI-5 is gaining great momentum with the students, parents and faculty and after polling each group, a garden project received the most excitement. This grant would enable us to integrate HI-5 into our after school program (Prep Plus), which would like to be more than homework and playground time but interactive with cooking and gardening, and into the curriculum.

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