My students need a summertime garden educator to lead garden classes in which they plant, harvest, prepare and eat produce from the Restorative Justice Garden.
My students are incarcerated in a juvenile jail 24 hours a day where they live in tiny cells. Many of my students come from poverty and have experienced trauma or community violence of some kind. Students have struggled with education and often come to the institution having dropped out of school. Up to fifty percent of our population is classified as Special Education and require services for disabilities.
Despite their often challenging circumstances, my students are resilient, brilliant youth who are working hard to transform their lives.
I am lucky enough to be their English teacher and want to give them opportunities to master tools that will help them to empower and rehabilitate themselves.
My Project
The Juvenile Justice Center Restorative Justice Garden combines an outdoor classroom haven with integrated academic and health programs. The JJC Restorative Justice Garden links food, culture, health, and the environment to promote ecological stewardship and social justice. The cross-curricular academic program combines classroom and outdoor learning experiences and includes a farm-to-fork meal experience.
The garden-based education teaches incarcerated students at the Juvenile Justice Center to develop critical life skills and tools to reach self-sufficiency, experience rehabilitation through gardening, and receive environmental science education.
The eco-literacy section of our garden program is designed from whole to part, stemming from the broad question of why we need organic gardens, local farms, open spaces and access to nature. Students consider the value of healthy eating, organic growing, and eating locally, followed by an examination of our global food system and issues of food justice. The urban agriculture movement is explored in the context of becoming stewards of the environment and oneself. Classroom lessons add meaning to our work in the garden and the preparation of organic plant-based recipes.
We have grant money to cover our amazing Ryan's salary through the school year, but since we are a year-round school we want to be able to provide the students a garden-based education over the summer. This DonorsChoose project is the third project of four total we hope to complete in order to obtain this goal. We are so grateful for those who have already supported the project.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Mercurio and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.