Urban Greening Grant Proposal_TylerScott

A lot of people see education as strictly classroom learning.  A place where kids go to school, sit at desks all day and listen and watch teachers at the front of the room.  What if there was a way for kids to get their hands dirty but also have a great learning experience?  As a group we came up with the idea of schools creating outdoor classroom space.  Spaces where nature can be the classroom, where kids can get their hands dirty and learn about the natural environment that they live in.  Our Urban Greening Grant Proposal focuses on the idea of schools creating green outdoor space that teachers are able to use as a tool for teaching and learning.  Students will be able to discover new tools and ideas in these outdoor classrooms and begin to implement them at home, teaching their parents and families the opportunities presented by green urban spaces.

the Edible Schoolyard

As a case study precedent we focused our study around a project called the Edible Schoolyard.  In 1994 Chef Alice Waters and King Middle School Principal Neil Smith teamed up with teachers and members of the community to brainstorm and begin planning the Edible Schoolyard.  

Chef Alice Waters on her PBS film "Alice Waters and Her Delicious Revolution"

Chefs, teachers, gardeners, businesses, administrators, and townspeople shared a common vision of a future garden at King Middle School in California.  Within the first couple of years every King Middle School student attended two kitchen classes in the spring.  In these kitchen classes garden “mentor teachers” taught students about gardening, planting, and growing fresh and organic produce.  Students would then prepare meals from the produce they grew and picked in the garden.  

Overview picture of the ESY garden on the school grounds

As the years passed the gardens and the entire Edible Schoolyard program grew and evolved.  Each spring new plantings were added to the gardens to increase produce variety.  New teaching positions were added and urban green equipment was installed, such as the water collection system and cistern.  In 2003 the garden was flourishing so much that they began to adopt small animals to live on the garden site. 

In the beginning Alice Waters had a vision, as she “envisioned a school curriculum and school lunch program where growing, cooking, and sharing food at the table gives students the knowledge and values to build a humane and sustainable future.”  Through the Chez Panisse Foundation and the Edible Schoolyard teachers and gardeners began to leave an impression not only on their students but the surrounding community as well.  The lessons learned in school, through both garden and kitchen classes, gave students the knowledge and experience to plant, grow, and prepare their own food. 

Kids working hands on creating meals in the kitchen classroom

This enabled students the opportunity to grow their own fresh produce to and live a healthy diet and lifestyle.  The idea is then that the students will take those lessons learned at school and implement them at home; having an influence on their parents and families, and helping them make changes to live a healthier lifestyle.

The garden is used by both the school and community

The Edible Schoolyard is a program that follows great parallels to the type of Urban Greening Grant we are proposing.  It takes into account of using schools as a tool to teach not only the students but also the community as well.  By converting current outdoor school hardscape into gardens and green spaces we not only improve the environment around the school but also the idea of urban gardens and greening, an idea that affects more than those in direct contact with the space.