Hands-on Gardening Education

elementary & Middle SCHOOL GARDEN CLUB

We partner with New Britain Parks and Recreation to offer garden-based education to elementary students, allowing youth to experience food in new ways and discover the impacts of a healthy lifestyle. Our after school clubs engage children in hands-on education through our school gardens and greenhouses, where they grow, eat, and learn about nutritious food to further their understanding of sustainable food systems and empowered eating practices. Currently, we run garden clubs at every elementary schools in New Britain and Slade and Pulaski Middle Schools.

STRIVE Garden Girls

We provide weekly lessons to at-risk students from the YWCA STRIVE after school program at Slade and DiLoreto Magnet School. At Garden Club, the girls learn about sustainable agriculture and nutrition through hands on gardening and cooking activities. To further nurture their understanding about the importance and impact of fresh, locally grown food on the environment and our bodies, the girls also participate in educational field trips for experiential learning at farms and other food related facilities. 

Farm to Summer School

ROOTS is a community provider for the Consolidated School District of New Britain (CSDNB) Summer Enrichment Experience (SEE), which seeks to improve academic performance through inquiry and literacy based programming. ROOTS implements hands-on gardening and nutrition curriculum during SEE to inspire and engage students grades K-3. Focused in STEAM, with an emphasis on team building and community service, ROOTS curriculum engages students in scientific experimentation and social & emotional learning that is replicated in everyday life. The program gives youth the opportunity to learn about important environmental impacts and resources in the context of their own city.