Youth Grow

After school garden clubs, summer garden camps, school gardens, parent/child workshops, youth garden education training

Youth Grow programs encourage the next generation of veggie eaters and growers to be healthy.  Our programs improve nutrition and decrease the risk of food insecurity by teaching children at risk lessons in where food comes from, the importance of eating fruits and vegetables and how to grow food through fun hands-on activities.  

2009 Program Highlights:

• 320 elementary aged students participated in after-school and summer Garden club;
• 5,024 learning hours were dedicated to hands-on food gardening activities;
• At least 75% of Youth Grow after-school students reported liking food from the garden including: collard greens, kohlrabi, beets, and asparagus; 
• 80-100% of participating students said they'd like a food garden at home;
• 86% of parents surveyed agreed their child has a greater understanding of the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, gardening and healthy lifestyles because of participating in Garden club;
• 82 children and 45 adults participated in summer Parent/Child Gardening Workshops;
• 28 volunteers dedicated 644 hours working directly with Garden club students;
• 32 people graduated from our School Garden Coordinator Certificate Training.

School Partnerships 
Youth Grow makes a three year commitment to our partner schools. We provide assistance with 1) development of after-school and summer food gardening programs through the Schools Uniting Neighborhoods Community School (SUN CS) program., 2) support in development of School Garden Committee, 3) integration of parent, teachers and student involvement in the garden and 4) provide technical garden advice.  integration into the classroom as well as provide after-school and summer Garden Club programming

2009/2010 partner schools are: Faubion PreK-8th/SUN CS (NE), Vernon PreK-8th/SUN CS(NE) and Shaver Elementary/SUN CS (NE)

Previous partner sites: Alder Elementary/SUN CS (SE), Kelly Elementary/SUN CS (SE), Wattles Boys and Girls Club (SE).

In Garden Club, students learn to:

• plant seeds and transplant vegetable starts
• compost and tend a worm bin
• harvest, prepare and enjoy fresh vegetables
• identify insects
• work together, plan and think critically 

Each session is between 6-10 weeks long for 1-2 hours each week and each session’s learning activities correspond with the seasons.

"I love garden club, I wish I could live in the garden" - Alder Garden Club student, age 11. 

Youth Grow Supports Youth Gardening in our Community:

• Partners with Portland Public Schools Nutrition Services to support their Harvest of the Month program;
• Each year, we receive many questions regarding starting or maintaining school gardens. In order to help meet these requests, we developed a School Gardens page with helpful school garden resources;
• NEW! GROWINGGARDENS' has developed a School Garden Coordinator Certificate Training to train school garden specialists. Fall 2010 dates are Saturday's in September - October.  
• the Portland Farm and Garden Educators Network (PFGEN) which aims to connect educators, volunteers, youth, families and community members who support healthy food culture, wellness and Portland-area food security through sustainable food and agriculture education.
• To encourage families to grow together, we offer Parent/Child Gardening Workshops. These workshops are designed to spark interest in children aged 6 to 12 in gardening, and provide fun ways for parents (grandparents, guardians, aunts/uncles, friends) and children to grow gardens together. Workshops topics include: Planning a Dinner Garden, Bugs & Insects, Sensational Gardens, Wondrous Worms, and Munch and Crunch see LEARN & GROW

Volunteer Opportunities:                                  
Caring adults enrich and enhance our Youth Grow Garden Clubs and Summer Garden Camps! If you are interested in working with elementary aged children and can commit to volunteering 1-2 hours once a week for 6-10 weeks, contact Youth Grow Educator Nell at nell(at) growing-gardens.org. 

 

 

Seasonal volunteer educator trainings are held 3 times per year. No gardening experience is necessary. All volunteers are subject to a background check.