Foothold Technology's Volunteer Day: An Interview with Founder and CMO Nick Scharlatt

August 12, 2014

Grow-To-Learn

On June 24th, Foothold Technology spent the day volunteering at PS 25 Eubie Blake School in Brooklyn.  The enthusiastic team revived the school’s garden area by clearing weeds, building raised beds, and constructing benches for an outdoor classroom. We spoke to Founder and Chief Marketing Officer Nick Scharlatt about his experience.

How did you first get involved with GrowNYC?

I first heard about GrowNYC in 2007, and by 2008 I had joined the Board!  I grew up in the city, just a few blocks from a recycling plant and a Greenmarket, so the idea of being involved and supporting GrowNYC’s work appealed to me. 

Why did you choose a school garden as a volunteer opportunity for your team?

Grow to Learn is among my favorite GrowNYC programs.  It offers what I call a “big win from a small age” – a chance to have a significant and long-lasting effect on kids, starting when they are young.  A work day in a school garden is also an opportunity to get a lot done!  If you start out with a rough plan, big overhaul becomes possible with a team of volunteers.  We can get the job done!  


How did your team react to the idea of a work day in a school garden? 

When I made the announcement to my team, people were really excited – except for one volunteer who had nightmarish flashbacks to weeding as a kid in his family’s garden!  Grow to Learn made working at a school garden totally “turn key”:  the problem was there, the equipment was there, and we were the solution.  

What were some of your favorite moments from the work day?

There was a lot of cross-team collaboration, so people who don’t necessarily ever work together were getting deep into the roots together – literally!  People who didn’t really know each other wound up working together for hours, trying to pull out a root stump, or building beds together.  

Grow-To-Learn

What do you think were the benefits of the work day for your team? The school?

The team as a whole really got behind the project.  As we were seeing how much we got done, we felt the satisfaction of the job well done.  And, talking to the staff and community members at the school, it was clear that, no matter how much of the school is involved, it sometimes feels like there’s never enough resources.  The Janitor said the job would have taken him six months alone, so it felt important to support school gardens by bringing resources, and so much human power, to tackle something and make a big impact there.

Why would you encourage others to donate to Grow to Learn? 

Every kid should experience the kind of space we were able to help build.  It shouldn’t be that only some students get to experience the variety of life experiences, curriculum, and outdoors that a school garden offers.  Grow to Learn gives kids who don’t have many opportunities to leave the city or get a taste of the outdoors a way to learn through nature.  All of a sudden, in front of everyone’s noses, there’s this amazing school resource that we could help make usable.  There’s a satisfaction for everyone who supports school gardens in knowing that with a few hours or few dollars you can change the way a whole school relates to the outdoors.

Grow-To-Learn

Featured Grow to Learn Garden: Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science, & Engineering

September 5, 2012
Posted in Community Gardens | Tagged grow to learn

Grow to Learn NYC: the Citywide School Gardens Initiative was established in 2010 as a public-private partnership between GrowNYC, The Mayor’s Fund, and several government agency partners. Grow to Learn profiles successful school gardens in their monthly newsletter The School Gardens Beet. The September profile appears below. It was a week before the school year officially began yet Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science & Engineering (CSS-MSE)’s garden was blooming with activity as students planted pollinator-attracting perennials, filled beds with soil, weeded, added trellis lines to tomato plants, turned the compost, and painted. Abby (13), Ashley (12), and Ariana (11) led me around their garden, expertly identifying their crops and generously offering me tastes along the way. Constructed by students practicing their engineering skills, the raised beds were lined with plastic and chicken wire to dissuade animals from burrowing inside. As we moved on, some unique and colorful structures caught my eye. The garden has two rainwater barrels painted as a chicken and a pig, and a large brightly-painted wooden shed. The front is painted with chalkboard paint where students list their garden to-dos and create temporary works of art. Ashley pointed out the different tools and supplies in the shed, but was particularly proud of the supply of extra work boots in case a student isn’t wearing proper footwear. Abby was also proud to point out the garden’s six compost bins and their contents. Abby’s dad built the garden’s most recent addition: the compost tumbler. Made out of salvaged materials, it includes engineering that will enable them to harvest natural gas from the compost! Using student recipes and ideas, they plan to use the gas for cooking in the garden, an activity that the students enthusiastically lead from prep to feast. What were these students doing in the garden during their summer vacation? Ariana expressed that she likes to plant and “growing different types of plants and vegetables is cool.” Ashley loves the garden, it is “a place for me and my friends to gather while helping the environment and still have fun.” Abby agreed and added that being in the garden “is a chance to get away from the city.” Behind the students’ love for the garden is a dedicated and inspirational teacher, Meredith Hill. Meredith’s goal is to make the garden as student-driven as possible. During the month of June, students participate in an elective course focusing on one topic. Abby and Ashley joined Meredith and 30 other classmates in the garden for a Food and Sustainability course where they learned garden care, compost, raised bed construction, and how to prepare meals using produce from the garden, choosing what to plant and cook. The course culminated in the publication of Fresh!, a student-authored anthology created entirely by the 7th grade Food and Sustainability Class and features some of our favorite GreenThumb school gardeners. Students teach skills that they learn to fellow gardeners and the rest of the school community. From Garden to Café harvest events incorporating garden produce into the menu to collecting food waste for composting, the school gardeners have a big presence during lunch at CSS-MSE. Following a student suggestion, the School Food Director allowed students to harvest, prepare and add fresh veggies to pizza as well as distribute samples of garden produce from tomatoes to kale chips. To keep the students’ interest and excitement—and the garden—maintained, Meredith introduced open garden hours during the summer. Students were able to choose their level of involvement with the garden and it provides a chance for students who were not in her class to dig in and help. CSS-MSE’s gardening successes didn’t come without challenges. After two years of having a rooftop garden, new regulations made them unable to use the space. Meredith explained, “I started looking for spaces elsewhere to garden, and a colleague suggested that I check out this space. The site was indeed overgrown and abandoned. Once we discovered it was a Parks Department property, I contacted GreenThumb and we started the process of registering it as a garden. Crucial to this process was finding interested parents and colleagues who helped make connections and offer support to the garden. We received keys about a year later, in the spring of 2010.” Meredith and her students are so grateful for all the support they have received from GreenThumb and Grow to Learn as they have built and improved their garden. Now that the school year has begun, they will transition some of their beds into colder-weather crops, and hope to extend the growing season, thanks to new row-covers from a recent GreenThumb workshop! They plan to hold leaf raking parties in Morningside Park to stow away lots of brown material for their year of cafeteria compost. Meredith will incorporate the garden into her English class this year as a way to demonstrate how gardening supports the Common Core standards. Students are also enthusiastically planning a GreenThumb composting workshop for this October that will be led by 7th and 8th grade students. Keep a lookout in our October newsletter for the exact date, time, and location.

Grow to Learn NYC turns 1 and registers its 200th School

February 16, 2012
Posted in Community Gardens | Tagged grow to learn

We're proud to report that Grow to Learn NYC: the Citywide School Gardens Initiative has just celebrated its first anniversary. A public/private partnership between GrowNYC, the Mayor’s Office to Advance New York City, and GreenThumb, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, Grow to Learn was created to inspire, create and maintain gardens in every public school in New York City. Offering mini-grants, free materials and technical expertise to registered gardens, Grow to Learn helps school gardeners create gardens that can be utilized as outdoor classrooms and indoor living labs.

We're also proud that we've just registered our 200th school garden. From the southern tip of Manhattan to the northern reaches of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, school gardens of all shapes and sizes are flourishing. Teachers are able to utilize the gardens to help students apply what they have learned in the classroom to everything from science and math to foreign languages, nutrition, health and even music. After-school programs in urban planning, environmental studies and urban farming are able to utilize the gardens as teaching tools, and summertime gardening programs are able to continue to harvest fresh vegetables through the peak growing season. Students report that they feel more enthusiastic about learning when they can see how it applies in "the real world," teachers report that the students feel a deep sense of personal responsibility and pride that their school has a garden and an overall greater interest in subjects where the garden is utilized. We are also told that having a school garden creates a sense of community within the school and also with the community at large as neighbors stop by to find out what the kids are doing in the garden.

Don’t see your school garden on the list or want to start one at your school? Visit Grow to Learn to read all about the benefits of registration at our website www.growtolearn.org, view Success Stories for some inspiration about what a school garden can look like, or get Step-by-Step help to learn how to start a garden at a school of your own. You can also find us on Facebook!

Starting a school garden is an incredibly rewarding endeavor; get started now and perhaps yours can be garden #201!

Grow to Learns kicks off Dining Out for School Gardens week

June 17, 2011

Today, GrowNYC and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City—co-founders of Grow to Learn: the Citywide School Gardens Initiative—were joined by Deputy NYC Parks Commissioner Larry Scott Blackmon, Chef Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern and staff and families at PS 154 in Windsor Terrace to highlight the critical nutrition lessons gardens provide and kick-off a week-long promo, Dining Out for School Gardens.

Students at PS 154 were outside participating in a cooking demo with Chef Michael Anthony and Whitney Reuling, Garden to Cafe Coordinator for the Office of SchoolFood, as part of Harvest Day, where students serve up what they’ve grown in the garden in their cafeteria.

PS 154 was recently awarded a Grow to Learn mini-grant to amend garden beds, purchase composters and lights so they can grow seeds indoors. After registering their garden on www.nyc.gov/growtolearn, they received donated plant materials and technical assistance from Grow to Learn Partner Green Thumb, and their Harvest Day and other nutrition curriculum comes from participating in Garden to School Café, another partner in Grow to Learn.

From June 24 – 30, you can visit participating restaurants and help NYC youth gain better skills, habits and knowledge about growing, eating and preparing food. All of the Dining Out for School Gardens restaurants, will donate a percentage of the sales of one or more menu items towards supporting school gardens.

Dining Out for School Gardens

May 31, 2011
Posted in Community Gardens | Tagged grow to learn

Grow to Learn NYC: the Citywide School Gardens Initiative, a program co-founded by GrowNYC, knows that gardens, cafes and cafeterias are classrooms too, so we asked NYC chefs to lend their support and expertise.

Chefs are an integral part of shaping how we eat and how we view food so it’s only natural that they take part in GrowNYC’s Grow to Learn school gardens program. In gardens, in farmers markets, in schools and in restaurants NYC chefs are helping to advance the good food/good health movement by:

  • Teaching students how to prepare healthy school lunches, snacks, and meals using fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs
  • Encouraging healthy eating habits by demonstrating the natural deliciousness of farm fresh foods
  • Introducing young people on the cusp of adulthood to possible career choices

From June 24 – 30, you can visit participating restaurants and help NYC youth gain better skills, habits and knowledge about growing, eating and preparing food. All of the Dining Out for School Gardens restaurants, will donate a percentage of the sales of one or more menu items towards supporting school gardens.

Your participation will help ensure that New York City’s youth are getting outside and growing–and making the connection between what’s in the garden with what’s on their plates by visiting these restaurants:

MANHATTAN

Back Forty – Sauteed tokoyo turnips (side dish)

Elsewhere Restaurant – Eat Drink Local Week prix fixe menu

Gotham Bar and Grill – a special $25 Greenmarket menu

Gramercy Tavern – Eat Drink Local Week prix fixe menu

The Green Table – local artisanal cheese plate

Henry's – Greenmarket square meal

Hung Ry – Eat Drink Local Week prix fixe menu

I Trulli – special Greenmarket Tasting Menu

Má Pêche - mushroom + asparagus appetizer

Mae Mae Café - Veggie burger

Northern Spy Food Co.

Riverpark - Mascarpone Ravioli

Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto culatello locale

Battery Park City Shake Shack - summer blackberry cobbler milkshake

Trestle on Tenth - Greenmarket strawberry sundae and spinach gnocchi

‘wichcraft – Asparagus frittata, roasted free-range chicken, and marinated zucchini sandwiches

BROOKLYN

iCi - A special Eat & Drink Local Menu ($46)

Rose Water – Eat Drink Local week menu

The Vanderbilt – Fleischer’s Heritage Pork Loin


Interested in supporting Grow to Learn NYC?  Donate today!
(choose Citywide School Gardens as your program designation)

Grow to Learn is a program of GrowNYC and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. Learn more at www.nyc.gov/growtolearn.

To add your restaurant to this promotion, contact Julie Walsh at jwalsh@grownyc.org.

29 Mini-Grants Awarded to NYC School Gardens!

May 4, 2011

 

Grow to Learn recently awarded 29 Mini-Grants of up to $2,000 to help NYC schools keep their gardens growing. Schools will use funds to purchase soil, tools, seeds, hoses, wheelbarrows, gloves, and even provide professional development and garden training for teachers. "We evaluated over 60 competitive proposals, and looked for projects that are well planned, sustainable and have a positive impact on children related to nutrition and environmental education," said Grow to Learn Coordinator Erica Keberle. If your school has not yet applied for a Grow to Learn Mini-Grant, our next application deadline is June 30, 2011. Those schools that did not receive a Mini-Grant during the last round are eligible to reapply. Past Mini-Grant recipients are not eligible to reapply. Now is the perfect time to register your garden with Grow to Learn and apply for a Mini-Grant. Special thanks to Bank of America and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for their generous support of Grow to Learn Mini-Grants. The 29 grantees are: Bronx Dewitt Clinton High School University Heights High School PS 43 Jonas Bronck & Mott Haven Academy Charter School Brooklyn Alternate Learning Center - John Jay Community Roots Charter School High School for Public Service Kurt Hahn School Bedford Village School, Public School 3 The Clinton Hill School, PS 20 PS 29 John M. Harrigan John W. Kimball Learning Center, PS 107 PS 149 Danny Kaye PS 154 PS 230 Doris L. Cohen PS 261 Philip Livingston Park Slope Elementary and Middle School, PS/MS 282 The William Penn School, PS 321 Manhattan LaGuardia Arts High School Muscota New School & Amistad Dual Language School John Melser Charrette School, PS 3 The William T. Harris School, PS 11 River East Elementary School, PS 37 PS 110 Florence Nightingale Manhattan Middle School for Scientific Inquiry, MS 328 Manhattan School for Children, PS 333 American Sign Language and English Lower School, PS 347 Queens East-West School of International Studies John Bowne Elementary, PS 20 Staten Island Intermediate School 49 Berta A. Dreyfus

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