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.  

2011 Program Highlights:

• 360 elementary aged students participated in after-school and summer Garden club;
  
• 2,230 learning hours were dedicated to hands-on food gardening activities;
• 447 children and 72 adults participated in one time special learning opportunities;
  
• At least 75% of Youth Grow after-school students reported liking food from the garden including: kale, butternut squash, collard greens, kohlrabi, beets and spinach; 
• Youth Grow hosted 135 students and 100 adults in healthy food tasting events at the Earl Boyles Elementary and Shaver Elementary food pantries - for at total of 495 learning hours;
• Trained 18 Youth Grow Educators, including four teachers from partner schools to assist with after school clubs and garden camps. These volunteers contributed 395.25 hours working directly with Youth Grow students;
• 55 people graduated from our School Garden Coordinator Certificate Training in 2011.
  

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

2011/2012 partner schools are: Faubion PreK-8th/SUN CS (NE), Vernon PreK-8th/SUN CS(NE), Shaver Elementary/SUN CS (NE), Humboldt K-8/SUN CS (N), Earl Boyles Elementary School/SUN CS (SE), and Lent K-8/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.
  
• 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 Family Oriented 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 Jess at jess(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.