Final report for YENC24-212

YENC24-212 (project overview)

Project Type: Youth Educator

Funds awarded in 2024: $6,000.00

Projected End Date: 02/15/2026

Grant Recipient: Allen County Educational Services Center

Region: North Central

State: Ohio

Project Manager:

Jennifer Cunningham

Allen County Educational Services Center

Project Co-Managers:

Mikki Kennedy

Pathways to Success

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Project Information

Summary:

We plan to offer our urban, special needs students the ability to learn how their food is grown in an ecologically sound greenhouse where plants that have been grown will then be given to students and put into our community garden for the families to use as a fresh food source. The curriculum that is offered will have general agricultural learning, hands-on learning in the greenhouse and garden, and also a culinary aspect for the students to learn how to prepare their produce.

Project Objectives:

Introduce 60 students to a sustainable greenhouse operation with hands-on lab sessions allowing students to learn by doing. They will also be watching their seeds turn to produce in our community garden. The produce will be offered to families as a fresh food source.
Introduce students to the many career fields and options within the agriculture sector by meeting with members of our communities and having field trips to larger greenhouses and farming operations in the area.
Start the love of learning agriculture with students as young as kindergarten, and keeping it a focus through high school.

Educational & Outreach Activities

3 Consultations

3 Curricula, factsheets or educational tools

1 On-farm demonstrations

1 Online trainings

1 Tours

Participation Summary:

2 Farmers/ranchers

65 Youth

2 Parents

8 Educators

Education/outreach description:

Pathway to Success has had many people reach out to us to help us get this project up and running. We have worked specifically with Richard Waggonner from Ohio State University ATI for everything from curricula to where to buy our supplies and greenhouse. We found a group of 8-10 educators in our school system who are interested in horticulture and plants and have formed a committee to ensure that the greenhouse is built and used most efficiently.

We are planning to hold annual farmer's markets this May and October. During these markets, student's families and the public will buy and sell plants, produce, and goods made from our growing produce. Chefs will also teach families how to prepare the different produce.

We have modified these two curriculums from Ohio Statue University ATI, which was our starting point for our junior high and high school students. Much of the learning was hands-on. We are still in the building and construction process for our greenhouse and gardens. The students have been doing the majority of this- so we spend on average 2-3 days a week building, filling, and planting outside. As we run out of gardens to build, the students will start making plant boxes and such to sell at our planned 1st annual Farmer's Market! The students love the hands-on work. They take the plants on as their "babies" and make sure that they are well cared for. It's been a cool experience for them and us as staff. Students learned about soil science and we even made our own potting soil. We will be incorporating composting and vermicomposting into our curriculum very soon.

For our Elementary, we have added the greenhouse and plant sciences to our science & STEM class curriculums. Last week the elementary students made a basic hydroponics system out of a yogurt container. These have been placed in the greenhouse and by Mother's Day, they will all have Marigolds to bring home to their parents. Students have gotten the opportunity to learn the plant cycle, the importance of the seed and sun, and photosynthesis. They have also gotten to help plant the greenhouse-raised beds. We augmented existing curricula with hands-on elements.

Starting next fall we will be incorporating cooking classes into the schoolwide curriculum. Students will use produce we grow in our greenhouse-raised beds( which will allow us to grow cold hardy plants through the Winter) and the outside gardens to learn how to prepare, cook, and preserve what we are growing. We will be working with local chefs to have them come in and teach the students as special speakers.

Methods used to share with other educators:

Host webinar or in-person workshop

Learning Outcomes

65 Youth reporting change in knowledge, attitudes, skills and/or awareness

Key changes:

Basic Horticulture/ Agriculture
Basic Woodworking Skills
Teamwork and Work Ethics

Results and discussion:

We had the fun opportunity to introduce Horticulture/ Agriculture to most of our Urban/suburban students this school year. In the beginning, the students were hesitant, to say the least, but as the year has progressed this has quickly become one of their favorite subjects. Students have learned the basics of botany and this past week they started their 1st seeds for this year's farmer's market and our community garden. We have decided to change our greenhouse plans by making half of the greenhouse a year-round garden. They have planned that we will grow cold hardy plants, greens, potatoes, peas, and carrots inside year-round to allow them to harvest more produce for their consumption. The other half of the greenhouse is set up more classroom/ traditional greenhouse style with shelves and tables for the students to pot plants. Our goal is to start 100% of the plants we grow in our gardens and to have enough extras to sell at a farmer's market. The students have proven that they enjoy having some responsibility and something to care for.
Students worked alongside the staff in building the greenhouse and its components. The older students have taken on the majority of the designing, measuring, and putting the raised beds together. The middle school students will be working on the outside landscaping design, mulching, and maintenance. Even the elementary students will be getting involved as we start planting all the seeds. This has truly been a whole school activity.
Our student population is all at-risk students with behavioral and cognitive disabilities. Working together as a team is a very hard concept. This project has allowed us another way to introduce team building.

Curricula or lesson plans you utilized:

We have been fortunate to be working in a partnership with OSU/ATI. They have shared their curricula with us.

Project Outcomes

4 Number of youth considering a career in sustainable agriculture

3 Grants received that built upon this project

5 New working collaborations

Increased organizational support to explore and teach sustainable ag:

Yes

Explanation for change in organizational support to explore and teach sustainable ag:

We have added Horticulture/ Agriculture to our curricula. This has been a schoolwide project that has allowed all of our staff and students to have the opportunity not only to learn about agriculture but more importantly sustainable agriculture. The hands-on learning aspect has been a tremendous help for our students to gain real-life experience.

Success stories:

One of the biggest success stories from Sowing Seeds for a Brighter Future is the amount of enthusiasm our whole school has had towards the greenhouse and garden, even our treasurer and administration are excited to watch the progress and the project grow. We have had several students who were confused about where their food comes from. As an elementary, we traveled to a nearby dairy farm to see how we get milk. They loved this opportunity and were amazed. Then a month later when we showed them where their salad and carrots came from, they were mind-blown. We started our hydroponics systems. We grew lettuce and tomatoes, the tomatoes didn't produce, but the lettuce did and the students thought the fresh lettuce was awesome, even without ranch( their words, not mine! :))

One of our high school students, " The only reason I come to school is to go to the greenhouse and check on the plants. I love watching them grow and watering them." The increase in self-worth has grown immensely with not only this student but most of them.

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Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.