 |
| Aalryah Doucet poses for a photo with her certificate of completion with SU Ag Center's School Garden Program Director Tiffany Franklin (left) and the program's Garden Instructor Stephanie Elwood. |
Baton Rouge, LA – Nearly 40 middle
and high school students received certificates of completion for participating
in the Southern University Ag Center’s School Garden Program.
Students
from Southern University Laboratory School, Scotlandville Magnet High School
and Scotlandville Pre-Engineering Middle Academy, were honored during a
graduation ceremony held at the SU Ag Center on May 4.
The
yearlong program titled, “Eradicating Food Deserts through School Gardens,” was
developed by the SU Ag Center in response to the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) identifying Baton Rouge as a food desert; means there is
limited access to fresh produce.
The center
applied for and received funding through a USDA/National Institute of Food and
Agriculture (NIFA) Capacity Building Grant. Through this funding a training
series dubbed, “Plant
it-Grow it, Try it-Like it,” was introduced to teach students basic,
transferable gardening techniques from the SU Ag Center's self-produced Community
Garden Curriculum. Students were also given ownership of school garden spaces
to ensure easy access to fresh produce.
Since 2016
marks the final year of the program, a teacher from each participating school
was presented with a copy of the Ag Center’s curriculum to ensure that the
program continues to thrive within the schools.
Six
students from the schools also discussed their experiences during the program
and expressed how the program and its garden instructor, Stephanie Elwood, impacted
their lives.
“When I
starting the program I wasn’t interested in anything Ms. Stephanie was talking about,”
said Aalryah Doucet. “But the program and Ms. Stephanie have taught me so much
that I have decided to major in Agriculture at Southern University. Thank you
Ms. Stephanie, she added.
For information
about the SU Ag Center’s School Gardening Program, contact Tiffany Franklin,
Project Director or Stephanie Elwood, Garden Instructor at 225-771-2242.
###
No comments:
Post a Comment