Upper Elementary

Hope Academy Charter School

Our Hope Grows Garden will provide an interdisciplinary, hands-on outdoor classroom that facilitates learning, promotes healthy habits and reinforces strong community partnerships. As our garden is established, funding requested will extend/enhance the program for broader impact through the purchase of additional garden supplies (e.g., plants and planting materials) and outdoor tables for creation of “classroom” space.

Lee Academy Pilot School

The Lee Academy garden goals are to build a viable, sustainable vegetable garden for our entire school community to enjoy. We are in the start-up phase, so aside from the actual support needed to create and maintain a growing area, we are beginning to create a garden curriculum for all grade levels. In our K0-K1 (Pre-K) classes, an entire unit is dedicated to “Things That Grow”. Kindergarten and grade 1 classes also have entire units on “Living Things” that takes a more in-depth approach to studying the life cycle of plants and what caring for plants actually requires.

Joseph Charter School

Our rural school is in picturesque Wallowa County, OR. For decades, upon entering the school grounds, visitors saw weeds and a fenced tennis court in disrepair. With new energy from committed faculty, students, and community volunteers, a transformation of the area is currently underway. Part of the area is designated to be an edible school garden. We have had an edible garden, but with fewer beds and in an area that isn't ideal for watering and growing starts. Our new Magic Garden space will be larger (12 beds), located next to our school’s greenhouse, and will have improved water access.

The Children's Home Schools

Students in our therapeutic schools (grades K-12) have special educational needs and behavioral and learning challenges. For many, these challenges are compounded by physical ailments like obesity, Type 2 diabetes, lack of exercise, and difficulty accessing health care. Our school garden provides hands-on learning that complements daily educational activities and underscores our commitment to physical fitness and holistic health.

Stewpot Community Services

Through participation in a community garden program, we hope to achieve the following: 1)Teach our children where food comes from, the work it requires and how to grow things themselves. 2) To provide fresh, nutritious foods to our children, their families and our community. 3) To inspire others in our community to start their own foods gardens either individually or as a community.

Jacob Beidler Elementary

Jacob Beidler is located in Garfield Park, a Chicago neighborhood on the west side. It’s a school that has flourished in this neighborhood; where gang activity and violence are sometimes a day-to-day reality. As a new first year science teacher at the school, I see a great need for students living in a city to develop genuine connections with nature and the foods that they consume. On a daily basis, I see students snacking on processed, high sodium junk foods.

ST Luke's School

The Outdoor classroom construction has nowhere else to go but up! We would like to use all levels of STEM studies to create a fully functional vertical garden which includes water, nutrients and monitoring devices and equipment. As with so many schools, our space is limited by the excessive amount of blacktop that schools from the 1950's and 60's coated most properties with. We now realize that these surfaces provide little shade, will not let any water through and offer little creative space for children and nature.

Speyer Legacy School

This grant will help us bridge healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle with the wonders of botany. If we receive the funds, we plan on installing tower gardens in our science lab and our school cafeteria that allow the students to grow and harvest fruits and vegetables. This will allow the students to see the process from seed to plate and appreciate the journey of a plant before we consume it.

El Camino Real

El Camino Real is a brand new school on the south side of Santa Fe, NM. The south side of Santa Fe has historically been an area absent of gardens, farmers' markets, and a culture of eating from the garden. Our school would utilize the garden to teach students about where our food comes from, and how a seed can grow into something that can feed a whole family. We have incorporated gardens into our science curriculum and have even planned trips to the Santa Fe's Botanical Gardens for students to have a better concept of how educational, peaceful and beautiful a garden can be.

Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park

The Argenziano garden is an outdoor garden classroom that will be utilized by over 200 students during the 2014-15 school year. The space is hands-on outdoor classroom where students will partake in a variety of math, science, and nutrition lessons that are focused around the plants and vegetables that grow in the school’s garden. Students will be given the opportunity to sprout, plants, maintain, and harvest a variety of plants and vegetables and will oversee the process from start to finish.

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