Outdoor Learning Highlights | | | | We, at Friends of the Boston Schoolyards, are celebrating the start of the school year and the rich, harvest time bounty in our school gardens. We have deep gratitude for our garden partners, such as Green City Growers and City Sprouts for their invaluable support in keeping our gardens growing and healthy through the summer months. Give them a shout out when you see them in your garden. Also mention their impact and your appreciation to your teachers, colleagues, principals, city councilors, school committee members, and the superintendent's office. We need to ensure that these programs continue to be fully funded. The joy and learning that they bring to our schools is invaluable. | |
" My heart wants to live outside ".
Shyanne, Edward Everett Kindergarten 1
| | | Partner Highlights-Green City Growers | | | | |
Green City Growers has been proud to partner with Boston Public Schools (BPS) for many years, transforming unused urban spaces into vibrant, educational gardens. From planting seeds to harvesting veggies, students get hands-on experience with every step of the growing process, and the fun doesn’t stop when school’s out! As the new school year kicks off, we’re excited to share what’s been sprouting over the summer while students are away.
This summer, we teamed up with STRIVE (Supported Training to Reach Independence through Vocational Experiences), a BPS summer program that supports students with disabilities through engaging, hands-on learning opportunities. Together, students and GCG urban farmer educators got to work in the gardens at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, Community Academy of Science and Health, Charlestown High School, and English High School. From potatoes and okra to cucumbers, kohlrabi, and eggplant, students learned how to plant, care for, and harvest a wide range of crops, gaining valuable farming skills and building a deeper connection to the food they eat.
At Madison Park, students also explored indoor growing through our hydroponic Fork Farms system, where leafy greens like lettuce and basil thrive year-round, no soil needed!
Outside the STRIVE program, our urban farmer educators were busy growing at Samuel Adams Elementary, Warren Prescott School, and Mattahunt Elementary School. At Sam Adams, Farmer Mandy worked with K–5 students in small groups, guiding them through the growing season, which culminated in a fun salad party featuring their own grown ingredients. Over at Warren Prescott, Farmer Kat and Farmer Tabby introduced students to the unique tastes of crops like cucamelons and sweet alyssum, with plenty of samplings between plantings. Farmer Kat also led programs at Mattahunt and introduced the students to the wonderful world of dip, combining sour cream with garlic and herbs they grew in the gardens. They then enjoyed their creations with freshly harvested cucumbers.
As we launch into fall programming, we’re looking forward to another season of growth, learning, and delicious harvests across BPS. A huge thank-you to our dedicated farm staff and the incredible educators and administrators at Boston Public Schools who help make this partnership flourish!
| | | Partner Highlights-Speak for the Trees | | |
Caring for Our Trees
Speak for the Trees (SFTT), is an urban forestry nonprofit, founded in 2018 by David Meshoulam, a science teacher who realized that Boston’s urban forests needed help. SFTT operates a career exploration program for Boston youth, ages 14 - 18, to explore green career opportunities. The Teen Urban Tree Corps (TUTC) is a paid opportunity for its participants where they learn about green careers through field trips to green spaces, lessons on environmental justice, and hands-on work on various projects.
At least 150 trees are cared for each summer by TUTC participants who want to do something meaningful during their school vacation as they learn new skills and make a little money. In addition to tree care, environmental education, and relationship building, students can share their newfound knowledge on mediums like TikTok, all of which make for an engaging, educational, and rewarding summer experience. Speak for the Trees also has an after school program during the year where the youth work on event planning, such as their annual Teen Tree Summit, outreach, and assisting SFTT events like their community tree giveaways.
A typical day in the summer TUTC program starts at the office on Clayton St around 9:00 AM. The group generally waters about 40 - 50 street trees a day that were planted by the city of Boston at least two years ago. The city is responsible for the trees up to that time and then SFTT takes over after the two years are up. This current summer program has 22 youth, including at least 12 girls, mostly from Boston Public Schools.
The city now has an Urban Forestry department and gives Speak for the Trees a spreadsheet each summer to share which trees will need assistance, as trees need five years of consistent watering after planting, although the city can only provide two. Speak for the Trees also works with community groups to plant additional trees in places like Ronan Park and Harambe Park, whose friends groups are empowered to play a significant role in the planning of these plantings.
In speaking to students Jaden and Axel, who are from Dorchester, as are many of the youth team, we heard that TUTC uses fire hydrants to water trees, so learning how to access that resource is one of the skills they learn. Another student Alex noted that teamwork was essential to the task. Torrien talked about the urban heat islands in parts of the city and Lyn and Eimy mentioned a trip to the Harvard Forest as a highlight of their summer.
Gabe Rodriguez is the Educational Program Coordinator and Joshua Reed is the Education Manager, as well as a board member of FOTBS. Most of the students are from Dorchester and have to come to the Fields Corner area each day for the program. Some of these students learned about this program through recommendations from their science teachers, while others already have plans for the future in tech, biology or mechanics at local colleges after graduation.
One of the summer team leaders is Tati, a college student who specializes in outreach and social media. She has a very interesting story, having emigrated from Russia five years ago and is in college studying nuclear physics, but a recent biology class turned her on to issues in the environment, including the emerald ash borer. She realized this was an area where she could make a difference with her summer job.
On this day, August 9th, the participants were treated to a recreational day at Town Field, which is a short walk from the offices on Clayton St. The team generally waters three days a week. There’s a two-mile route in Fields Corner where they take care of 10 to 15 street trees, mostly on the back streets. There are red maples, Japanese tree lilacs, zelkovas, cherries and some elms. Some trees have watering bags attached to simplify the watering process.
| | Partner Highlights--City Sprouts | | |
CitySprouts Green Team Summer Program
School was out for Boston students on June 23rd but not for CitySprouts’ summer staff, and the rising 5th and 6th graders who became part of the Green Team Summer Program. In the program youth learn to be leaders and stewards in their community through a combination of garden work, STEAM-focused projects, and field trips to outdoor spaces within their community. By working on local urban gardens and meeting with community leaders, the program also aims to provide youth the opportunity to identify issues they are passionate about and envision an endless array of possibilities for their future.
This summer’s activities included gardening, cooking, and academic instruction designed to close summer learning gaps. Weekly field trip adventures throughout the city supplemented the curriculum and were often the highlight of the week. To kick off the summer, the Boston Green Team traveled to the Museum of Science and learned about hydroponic freight farms, climate change, bug habitats, and engineering the Charles River! On another trip students saw pollinators in their natural environments on a hike through the Blue Hills. One of the highlights was a trip to George's Island, Green Team members learned about the Boston Harbor Islands from a Harbor Historian and explored the island in different ways - hiking, going on archeological treasure hunts, and even going fishing and catching crabs! Not only do these trips enhance students’ learning of the curriculum, but as summer Intern Claire Murphy has shared, weekly field trips like this make the Green Team experience a powerful blend of exploration, learning, and connection to the natural world.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a CitySprouts summer without gardening time! Green Team members spent a lot of time cultivating their schoolyard gardens. They built their own pollinator garden, learned about the different seeds they planted, and made connections with their peers. They even had a special garden visit from Mayor Michelle Wu of the City of Boston! But what about all our other schoolyard gardens? During the summer months, small groups of CitySprouts volunteers help with watering, weeding, and other maintenance tasks ensuring that students return to vibrant and productive spaces in the fall.
Green Team members finished off the program by receiving an official Green Team certificate and stipend! Alex Frank, CitySprouts Youth Program Manager shared his pride in the outcomes of the Summer Green Team Program, "We are excited to build this program and continue to provide tuition-free, accessible garden programming to the youth of Cambridge and Boston." Thank you to the Green Team staff for their hard work and to all the Green Team youth for creating beautiful memories in their schoolyard garden.
| |  | | | Friends of the Boston Schoolyards | info@friendsofthebostonschoolyards.org | | | | |
