Burpee Home Gardens Youth Garden Award winners chosen

It’s official: The Year of the Vegetable is under way as Burpee Home Gardens reveals the 2011 “I Can Grow” Youth Garden Award winners. Selected from more than 220 applications from community and urban school gardens across the United States, this year’s winners are:

• City of Inver Grove Heights Parks and Recreation (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.)
• Kid Power, Inc. (Washington, D.C.)
• Robles Elementary School (Tampa, Fla.)
• Waterford School District (Waterford, Mich.)
• West End IB World School (Nashville, Tenn.)

“Each of the winning schools’ organizers is excited to begin planning garden installation events with the Burpee Home Gardens team this spring, and the children couldn’t be happier,” said Carolyn Dixon, National Sales Manager for Burpee Home Gardens. “We are proud to be supporting and sponsoring not only the winners, but all of the ‘I Can Grow’ Youth Garden Award applicants as well.”

Burpee Home Gardens has provided school gardening resources to the over 220 applicants nationwide. Packages were sent out containing the “I Can Grow” Guide for Educators, created in partnership with the National Gardening Association; copies of the Garden Fresh vegetable gardening guide; as well as generous seed donations from W. Atlee Burpee Co. for use in the garden and classroom.

The five winners of the 2011 “I Can Grow” Youth Garden Award will receive up to 500 vegetable and herb plants from Burpee Home Gardens, $2,500 toward garden supplies, 5 gallons of Daniels organic-based plant food, one hose-end sprayer, on-site layout and installation assistance from Burpee Home Gardens experts, and a Flip camera to document the garden’s success.

The 2011 “I Can Grow” Youth Garden Award assists school and community gardens demonstrating well-developed and staffed plans for youth-centered educational programs that emphasize nutrition and food production, environmental awareness, social responsibility, and scholastic integration.

City of Inver Grove Heights Parks and Recreation Department. The Salem Hills Community Garden Plots, managed by the Inver Grove Heights, Minn., Parks and Recreation Department and Salem Elementary School, provide 140 community youth with a service learning opportunity to engage in gardening and the environment. Established in May 2010, several plots are designated multigenerational gardens where grandparents, parents and grandchildren garden together, sharing the tradition of gardening. Youth gardeners are taught by Dakota County master gardeners and donate 20 percent of harvested food to local food banks.

Kid Power, Inc. Washington, D.C.’s Kid Power is expanding its VeggieTime program with the addition of eight vegetable garden beds at Amidon Elementary School to better support its 275 students in underserved communities. This welldeveloped environmental science and nutrition program allows youth to participate in the local farmers markets, service learning projects, cooking classes, field trips and guest lectures.

Robles Elementary School. For many students at Robles Elementary School near Tampa, Fla., discovering food growing on a plant is a new experience. To help the students at this urban, high-poverty school learn about new foods and understand the value of healthy eating, it participates in the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program to provide 630 students with an assortment of fresh produce weekly. In partnership with Southwest Florida Water Management, Robles Elementary School will use its new garden as a tool for teaching science and conservation.

Waterford School District. Impacted by the economic downturn due to the automotive industry reorganization, Detroit-area Waterford School District has experienced a growing need for food assistance. This start-up garden will be located at the Waterford Alternative High School Crary Campus, and will benefit 219 students. Working side by side with school and administrative staff, along with members of the Waterford Senior Center, students will maintain and harvest the garden, providing vegetables to the Open Door Outreach Center and Forgotten Harvest food banks for families in need.

West End IB World School. Students at West End IB World School in Nashville, Tenn., started down the garden path in 2008 with the introduction of a rain garden. Benefitting 431 students through integrated lessons across the curriculum, the garden grew in 2010 to include native plants. The addition of a vegetable garden in 2011 will allow West End IB World School to complete its outdoor classroom, serve freshly harvested vegetables in the school cafeteria and donate the surplus to local food banks.

To see how these school and community gardens are flourishing throughout the year, visit the Burpee Home Gardens blog.