St. Joseph Academy

Health and wellness is of great concern across the nation, and particularly in the community SJA serves. The CDC revealed data indicating that 17% (or 12.5 million) of U.S. children are obese. The article noted that children from low income households are more likely to be obese, and African American and Hispanic children are significantly more likely to be obese.

In light of these trends, the SJA garden program is aimed at educating students, parents, families, and staff. We aim to teach children about nutrition and growing food in an urban setting. SJA students are primarily minorities from low-income families, 69% of whom have a 12th grade or lower education level.

The goal is threefold: to make gardening fun for students and teachers; to teach students about the importance of integrating healthy foods into everyday living; and to introduce the concept of gardens to an underserved population. This grant will allow SJA to expand so each classroom has their own garden.

This program is supported by .