Garden Classrooms

Boston Day & Evening Academy

Since September of this year, our goal has been to revitalize our school garden so our students can learn about the importance of, and potential to sustainably grow fresh, whole food within the city of Boston, while supporting academic outcomes for written and verbal communication.

Addison Elementary School

We have an established Garden Program at Addison Elementary School with a vibrant 17 year history. We are very concerned that a large percentage of our existing garden beds were originally constructed of pressure treated wood which makes us unable to allow the students to eat the fruits & veggies of their labors.- limiting the full impact and benefit of teaching the "farm to table" concept in a school garden setting. We are in the process of rebuilding or repurposing our existing garden beds to make them safe for edibles.

Antioch School

The goal of the Antioch School garden is to enrich the lives and learning of the children. The garden will not only be incorporated into the academic subjects, but will also be incorporated in artistic endeavors and involve children in physical activity to strengthen both muscles and neural pathways, and serve as a quiet space to process learning and connect with nature. The garden has existed since 1994. It has been used to varying degrees, but there have been significant barriers to it being more fully utilized.

Fairview School

We plan on installing a solar array on the school. The energy generated from it will be used to power lamps to grow vegetables on a small scale, year round, indoors, from our own school generated waste (compost). The school's social action club and science teachers will manage the garden and use it to demonstrate principles of sustainability. Our garden will be 100% sustainable and organic. The primary goal of our project is educational. A secondary goal is to reduce our carbon footprint and compostable waste generated by the school.

Ursuline Academy

The Herb Garden at Ursuline Academy is an effort to provide an outdoor, hands on learning environment where students can experience a wide variety of activities that support lessons in health and nutrition, and science while being enhanced in a cross curricular experience in art, English and other subject areas. Some areas of study will include:
1.) Life cycles using vermiculture (a worm farm with Red Wigglers) and butterflies
2. ) Recycling by producing compost and vermiculutre to naturally fertilize the soil with waste plant and food products

Paul H. Cale Elementary

Our goal is to provide outdoor, engaging, authentic garden experiences that bring academic standards to life for our students. Students will have the opportunity to demonstrate responsibility, collaborate on nurturing plants, understand basic principles of organic gardening, experiment, explore, investigate, wonder and appreciate the utility, beauty and resilient nature of plants. For example, one of our big projects will be to plant apples trees. Studying the science and history of apples is a core part of the kindergarten curriculum.

Maplewood-Richmond Heights Early Childhood Center

This grant will help continue to fund our on-going garden expenses. Our garden program is in it's 7th year and we currently serve 350+ children ages 3 to 7 with one hour of contact time per child, per week for 40 weeks per year.
The Seed to Table program goals are to:
Promote principles of sustainability and stewardship
Teach respect for nature and the environment
Teach the basic principles of organic gardening
Engage in hands-on exploration of food and nutrition
Emphasize healthy lifestyle choices

Westmont High School

The goal of our garden at Westmont High School is to grow food that we can eat in our food service at the school, and also for us to be involved with the growing of the garden and to learn from it. This is one of the best opportunities a class has provided to the students of Westmont High School because it is giving us the chance to be hands-on and to help the environment. We are also able to give back to our school that always gives so much to us.

Bridgeport Elementary

Our primary goal is to educate the children and inspire them to eat healthier. We want them to learn where their food comes from and to take part in the process of growing their own food. There are far too many "picky" eaters, and we have seen how adventurous children can become with what they eat when they have worked in the garden to grow their food and experience vegetables they didn't even know about or were afraid to try. As a community, we feel a garden project will get people involved and bring the community together.

Glenmoor Elementary School

Our garden's goal is to teach the children at Glenmoor Elementary to eat more fresh, whole foods through the school garden program. The grant will make it possible for the school to provide the resources and materials to get this program started and able to flourish. We are excited to have the opportunity to teach the children to grow their own foods and eventually taste the fruits of their labor in the school cafeteria salad bar.

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