Statements
Mission
Plant the Seed is a nonprofit program that inspires and empowers young-people through garden-based learning - connecting them to the land, their education and one another.
Background
Plant the Seed began in 2011 with a fiscal sponsorship agreement with the TN Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and a partnership between Founder, and former Executive Director Susannah Fotopulos, and Nashville International Academy's sixth grade science classes. This program grew to be fully-integrated into the curriculum for 1st through 6th graders at NIA and included 10 raised beds that grew culturally-relevant foods nearly year-round. In a 3-year partnership with the YMCA Bridge program and East Nashville Cooperative Ministry (ENCM), Plant the Seed facilitated a 5-week leadership development camp each year held in the ENCM community garden. The summer program connected Bridge students?who came from disadvantaged backgrounds and, in most cases, would be the first college graduates in their family?to opportunities to learn, lead and grow as a community of young people; in partnership with Plant the Seed, this was done with the garden as the backdrop. In 2011, Susannah and the founding board attended Alice Water's The Edible Schoolyard Project training in Berkeley, CA. The team returned energized by the work being done within schools on a national level and determined to create a portable model where garden education could be brought to where young people gather, rather than in a field trip model where only students with transportation and financial means could participate. In this, the school model of PTS edible education was solidified. Plant the Seed was presented with an opportunity to contract with Metro Nashville Public Schools in the 2014-15 school-year to deliver our model of edible education within the three newly-established MNPS early learning centers. Plant the Seed formally incorporated as a 501c3 in the fall of 2014. We have expanded our programming to 5 schools, including grades Prek-4th, serving 1400 students in the garden each week.
Impact
accomplishments: 1. Our 138-page, 27-lesson electronic tool kit that offers a school year's worth of pre-k gardening curriculum tied to Creative Curriculum standards available to any MNPS pre-k teacher 2. Expanding our gardening programming and now growing alongside 1400 Nashville young people at seven partner MNPS schools and Head Start 3. Growing our staff and Board of Directors4. Hosting first Harvest Breakfast fundraiser Plant the Seed is rapidly becoming a pioneer in meaningfully integrating edible education into school curriculum, especially at the pre-k level and growing a grade-level annually at the elementary level. Plant the Seed is one of the few organizations in middle TN working with early learning programs to integrate edible, hands-on learning into the students' day. PTS has translated a vision to produce a just and sustainable food system into a reality through projects such as planting, harvesting, cooking and building with 4-year-olds and the adults who care for them. PTS embraces a child-led approach for garden education, where facilitators plan lessons to be flexible enough to follow children's interests and allow for experimentation and exploration, while also aligning their lessons to the daily curriculum to increase the impact for learning. Cultivating a sense of wonder, alongside ownership in the knowledge of local food systems forms the basis of Plant the Seed's work with all 5 partner schools, one in every region of Nashville. Cultural diversity and multicultural understanding are guiding principles in PTS' work, manifested in making culturally-relevant foods available for young people from immigrant communities to include in their school gardens and sharing foods with others. Plant the Seed is leading the conversation around food and its meaning with the youngest and most vulnerable in our community. goals: Align our toolkit with elementary standards and create a tiered service model for users locally and nationwide Diversify our funding through national and local foundation applications, corporate partnerships and individual donor cultivation Clarify 3-5 year strategic growth plan Redesign website and print materials for outreach and more effective visual storytelling. Plant the Seed continues to focus on internal systems and plans for ongoing sustainability and replication to ensure we are approaching the future with a mindfulness that honors what we have grown and supports the remarkable communities with whom we have partnered.
Needs
1. Strategic plan for growth to help guide our work, ensure program and staff sustainability, help us accurately determine what success looks like, refine what opportunities best serve the mission of our organization 2. Continue to administer our evaluation tool to study the impact of our work; no such tool currently exists, so we would be poised to set a model for the nation.
CEO Statement
Plant the Seed is rapidly becoming a pioneer in meaningfully integrating edible education into school curriculum, especially at the pre-k level. Plant the Seed is one of the few, if not only, organizations in the nation working with public early learning programs to integrate edible, hands-on learning into the students' day. PtS has translated a vision to produce a just and sustainable food system into a reality through projects such as planting, harvesting, cooking and building with 4-year-olds and the adults who care for them. PtS embraces a child-led approach for garden education, where facilitators plan lessons to be flexible enough to follow children's interests and allow for experimentation and exploration, while also aligning their lessons to the daily curriculum to increase the impact for learning. Cultivating a sense of wonder, alongside ownership in the knowledge of local food systems forms the basis of Plant the Seed's work with all 5 partner schools, one in every region of Nashville. Cultural diversity and multicultural understanding are guiding principles in PtS' work, manifested in making culturally-relevant foods available for young people from immigrant communities to include in their school gardens and sharing foods with others. Plant the Seed is leading the conversation around food and its meaning with the youngest and most vulnerable in our community. What matters most to me are the notes from grandparents of current students who say: "I LOVE the idea that someone is taking the time to introduce children at the very earliest years of their schooling to the process of where our food comes from in a tangible way, and I wanted to make a contribution." "To create in children and appreciation (if not a passion) for the earth and the labors involved in bringing our sustenance to the table is a gift to us all." I feel our work matters when parents share that they've had a garden in their backyard since their daughter was born, but she's only taken an interest in eating lettuce since tasting it in her school garden and hopping around like a bunny with Plant the Seed.
Board Chair Statement
Plant the Seed is rapidly becoming a pioneer in meaningfully integrating edible education into school curriculum, especially at the pre-k level. Plant the Seed is one of the few, if not only, organizations in the nation working with public early learning programs to integrate edible, hands-on learning into the students' day. PtS has translated a vision to produce a just and sustainable food system into a reality through projects such as planting, harvesting, tending and cooking with 4-year-olds and the adults who care for them. PtS embraces a child-led approach to garden education, where facilitators plan lessons that are flexible enough to follow children's interests and allow for experimentation and exploration, while also aligning their lessons to the seasonal needs of the garden and curricular standards to increase the impact for learning. Cultivating a sense of wonder, alongside ownership in the knowledge of how food grows forms the basis of Plant the Seed's work with nearly 1400 young people in 5 partner schools. Cultural diversity and multicultural understanding are guiding principles in PtS' work, manifested in making culturally-relevant foods available for young people from immigrant communities to include in their school gardens and sharing foods with others. Plant the Seed is leading the conversation around food and its meaning with the youngest and most vulnerable in our community. What matters most to me are the notes from grandparents of current students who say: "I LOVE the idea, that someone is taking the time to introduce children at the very earliest years of their schooling to the process of where our food comes from in a tangible way, and I wanted to make a contribution." "To create in children an appreciation (if not a passion) for the earth and the labors involved in bringing our sustenance to the table is a gift to us all." I feel our work matters when parents share that they've had a garden in their backyard since their daughter was born, but she's only taken an interest in eating lettuce since tasting it in her school garden and hopping around like a bunny with Plant the Seed. I am most moved when a Kurdish 6th grader tells me she feels like she's back home when her hands are in the soil with us in the garden. And I feel pretty proud when a mom tells me her 5-year-old requests sauteed kale as an afternoon snack, because he learned how to harvest, wash and cook it with Plant the Seed.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Education - Elementary & Secondary Schools |
| Secondary Category: | Youth Development - Youth Development-Agricultural |
| Tertiary Category: | Food, Agriculture & Nutrition - |
Areas Served
Current Plant the Seed garden programming is with pre-k at Ross, Ivanetta H. Davis, and Cambridge Early Learning Centers; with kindergarten through 4th grade classes at Rosebank and Explore Community School.
| TN - Davidson |
