Blog posts by Josaphine Stevenson
Written by Josaphine Stevenson on Monday, March 25, 2019
VPI South, Vermont School for Girls is a nonprofit therapeutic school for girls ages 8 through 18 with complex trauma. They used grant funding to install an organic aromatherapy herbal garden and sensory pathway. The school’s goal was to add another level of healing for their students. After installing the sensory garden, the girls were able to visualize even more opportunities for organic living. They brainstormed what this would look like and used remaining funds to install an aquaponic system where fish waste will nourish the organic plants grown for aromatherapy. Students now go to this…
Written by Josaphine Stevenson on Monday, March 18, 2019
R.L. Stevenson Middle School received a grant to create and sustain a school learning garden--a place for exploration and creation to occur. Middle school students began their project by learning about the microorganisms that live in soil. This included building a worm composting station. Students also learned about a wide variety of seeds and grew edible plants to be used for a class salad party. After the plants went to seed, students collected them and packaged them in packets they designed. The garden continues to develop as a community space where students can read books in the…
Written by Josaphine Stevenson on Monday, March 11, 2019
Third through sixth grade students at El Vista School received a grant to learn about organically and conventionally grown fruit and vegetables. They compared the look, taste, and smell of the fruit and vegetables, researched both farming practices, and visited a conventional farm and an organic farm. Ninety eight percent of El Vista School’s student body receives reduced or free lunch and many of its students do not get the chance to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, even though they live in a farming region. This project gave students the opportunity to see the difference between organic…
Written by Josaphine Stevenson on Monday, March 4, 2019
Students from Washington Elementary learned about beekeeping from a local beekeeper. The project began with a presentation during the Arthropoda section of the science class. Forty students learned about the activities of the Ely Area Bee Club as well as scientific facts about bees. Participating students visited the apiary for weekly hive checks. Although the club's hives did not produce enough honey to harvest this year, the students were taught how to harvest honey during a Save the Bees weekend course given by the Ely Folk School. Students helped sell honey at the Ely Farmers' Market.…
Written by Josaphine Stevenson on Tuesday, February 19, 2019
The goal of Cordova Jr./Sr. High School’s project was for students to learn how to grow healthy food in sustainable manner. In the fall, students used tools purchased with grant funds to transplant perennials and create new growing areas for the spring. They created vermiculture buckets and introduced thousands of worms to a favorable composting environment, nurtured them over the winter, and collected worm castings to make seed starter. In the spring, students started over 350 seedlings to transplant around their town in hanging baskets and barrels.
Their system of composting fruit and…
Written by Josaphine Stevenson on Monday, February 4, 2019
Happy Valley Elementary School in Santa Cruz, California received a grant for the entire school population of 152 K-6 grade students to participate in the planting, care, and eating of an organic salad. Each grade was responsible for growing one part of the salad from seed to harvest: kindergarten students grew carrots, first-grade students grew spinach, second-grade students grew lettuce, third-grade students grew beets, a combo class of fourth- and fifth-grade students grew radishes, and a combo class of fifth- and sixth-grade students grew celery. Their biggest achievement is that the…
Written by Josaphine Stevenson on Monday, January 28, 2019
Pueblo Vista Magnet Elementary School Napa, California
The mission of Pueblo Vista Magnet School is to promote environmental literacy through bilingual education. The school community strives to develop biliterate learners whose ability to engage in critical thinking, collaboration, communication, citizenship, character, and creativity leads to a more environmentally-just society. Organic gardening is an ideal context for developing these habits of mind by bringing science learning to life in the school garden.
As a result of this grant, the school had a reason to plant more and…
Written by Josaphine Stevenson on Monday, January 21, 2019
Gerald Peters is from and currently resides in Willows, California, where he graduated from Willows High School in 2015. After his graduation, he applied for his current job at Tractor Supply Company. Peters attended Butte College and then transferred to California State University, Chico in fall 2017 to pursue his bachelor’s degree in crop science. After he completes his bachelor's degree, he will apply for a post-graduate degree to further educate himself on the production of crops and plant biology.
Upon the completion of his education, his ultimate career goal is to manage an organic…
Written by Josaphine Stevenson on Monday, January 14, 2019
Sierra Torres has a deep desire to return to her community where she knows how to affect the most change. Torres will finish her third and final year at university with a bachelor’s degree in sustainable agriculture in 2019. Over the course of the next year, she will continue to take classes in agriculture education, small farm husbandry, agriculture systems thinking, and run a 20-acre organic vegetable production farm that sells produce to the community through a 150-person CSA, farmers’ markets, local grocery stores, student businesses, and the dining commons on campus.
In addition,…
Written by Josaphine Stevenson on Monday, January 7, 2019
Organic farming is a trade and lifestyle that naturally lends itself to storytelling. Makshya Tolbert first found that to be true as an undergrad, studying the intersection of nature poetry and black history and wanting to write poems that expressed the intimacy between the two. Tolbert began learning to grow food on campus farms and gardens and felt empowered to write about her experiences. She was eager to fill the gap of women of color farmers, striving to reassert our multidimensional roles across the environment. Since then, Tolbert has met black farmers, ranchers, beekeepers, and thru…