By DUANE M. ELLING
At first glance, the small farmers’ market, located on Baltimore’s east side, looks similar to others across the country. Tables groan under the weight of potted vegetable, herb and flower seedlings; staff hand out samples of foods prepared with locally grown produce, and the walls display brightly colored arts and crafts for sale.
What sets this thriving enterprise apart is that it’s run entirely by third, fourth and fifth graders participating in the Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students (BUGS) afterschool program.
Taking such a creative approach to nurturing educational and life outcomes for kids recently helped earn BUGS the William S. White 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) Program of Distinction Award. The recognition was announced at this year's 21st CCLC Summer Institute, held July 7-9 in Nashville.
BUGS serves students from Johnston Square Elementary School, located in one of Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods. Originally launched in 1995 as the Frederick Douglass After School Program, it has received 21st CCLC funding since 2003.
Learning to Grow, Growing to Learn
An annual farmers’ market is one of BUGS’ many creative approaches to helping children grow and learn. |
The year-round BUGS program offers activities within four thematic areas: creative arts; cooking and nutrition; gardening and the environment, and dance and movement. Each infuses the children’s academic and personal development with a sense of fun and discovery.
For example, math skills are reinforced as students calculate measurements and fractions for sowing seeds at the proper depth and spacing, and mix compost using proportions and ratios. Science comes into play as they observe and record findings of worms, insects and plant growth. And reading and research skills are developed through the exploration of such topics as community gardens, recycling and pollution.
Working side-by-side in the program’s greenhouse and gardens encourages socialization and teamwork among the students, while participation in the farmers’ market strengthens feelings of responsibility and leadership. Lessons in regional cooking and dance build their cultural awareness and understanding, and their self-esteem and pride grows right alongside the plants they cultivate each day.
The children’s experiences are also enriched by off-campus activities, such as tours of local farms and historic sites; sailboat rides and overnight camping trips; and painting large-scale murals on local buildings to help beautify their community.
Also evident throughout the model, notes Heather Rebstad, program director for BUGS, is a focus on helping the students to see, pursue and shape their own future.
“Many of our kids live each day in a persistent cycle of poverty,” she notes. “We’re showing them that there’s a whole other world out there and that, with the skills and tools they’re developing, they can participate and succeed in it.”
A Promising Harvest
The BUGS approach is yielding impressive results. During the 2007-08 school year, 44 percent of participants improved their reading scores by at least one letter grade, with 71 percent achieving a grade of “satisfactory” or better. Eighteen percent improved their math scores by one letter grade or more, while 76 percent earned a satisfactory or better by year’s end. The students also made gains in school attendance and dramatically improved their performance on state-administered achievement tests.
For Rebstad, such findings affirm her belief that, provided the right resources in an engaging and supportive environment, every child can blossom and thrive.
“The kids are incredibly enthusiastic about the different activities, many of which they might otherwise never experience,” she said. “As they begin to connect that enthusiasm with the process of learning, they become equally excited about succeeding in other settings, including school and the community.”
Rebstad is quick to note that local partnerships are critical to the BUGS model. The Living Classrooms Foundation, located in Baltimore and Washington DC, provides the program’s greenhouse, vegetable and flower gardens, open green space for playing and an arts loft. An organic restaurant in Baltimore makes its kitchen available for students to prepare pizzas using their homegrown vegetables. And a cadre of professional gardeners, dancers, artists and chefs -- as well as the teachers and staff at Johnston Square Elementary -- regularly share their knowledge, skills and passion with the children.
Award Brings New Bloom to BUGS
Nurturing educational and life outcomes for kids is a key goal of the BUGS program. |
Shawn Stelow Griffin notes that the encompassing approach of BUGS to creating a successful learning environment made it a standout nominee for the William S. White Award. Stelow Griffin, a senior program associate for the Washington DC-based
Finance Project, helped evaluate the program for the award.
“BUGS does an amazing job of integrating and reinforcing school day curriculum in a hands-on way,” she said. “It gives students an opportunity to participate meaningfully in -- and with -- the community.”
Rebstad notes that receiving the award “has been such a wonderful time for the BUGS staff and our partners.”
“We’ve been doing this for a long time and have always believed we were on the right track. Having that work recognized at the national level has escalated the passion and energy we feel for the program and its impact on kids.”
The William S. White award, established in 2005, is named after Mott’s president, who led the Foundation in coordinating a partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and the country’s corporate community to provide high quality enrichment and learning opportunities for children through the 21st CCLC initiative.
The annual award is given to individuals and programs dedicated to excellence in the service of children, schools and communities. In addition to White, past honorees include Philip Coltoff, former CEO and executive director of the Children's Aid Society in New York City; Bonnie Reiss, who helped craft legislation in California to fund afterschool activities in all state elementary and middle-schools; and a joint award in 2008 to two successful afterschool programs:
Child Opportunity Zone in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and the
Connections Program in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Sponsored by Mott and the U.S. Department of Education, in conjunction with the
JCPenney Afterschool Fund, the annual 21st CCLC Summer Institute brings together a diverse group of leaders from the fields of education, youth development, museums, libraries, recreation, family support, community development, government, philanthropy, and others who work with and in afterschool programs at the local, state and national levels.
Additional Resource:
Click here to view a collection of videos about the BUGS program.