Bringing H.O.P.E to West Michigan Schools
Providing garden education for students in grades K-12
Program Overview
Our collaborative, hands-on, experiential approach reinforces concepts and teaches students practical life skills.
- H.O.P.E. Gardens brings garden education to the classroom and as part of after-school and summer programs.
- Students experience all stages of gardening including planting, tending, harvesting, and winterizing a garden on school grounds.
- Our experiential lessons meet academic science standards.
- We also provide a seed-saving and seed-sharing program where students give seeds to surrounding schools and the community.
Our Impact
Benefits for students and teachers
Experiential learning
Kids get their hands in the soil as they experience the process of growing food in their own school garden.
Tangible rewards
Students get excited about actually seeing, touching, and tasting the “fruits of their labor.”
Social-emotional health
Soil microbes have proven mood-lifting qualities; digging in the garden is good for emotional regulation.
Integrated curriculum
From science to art, from math to history to language arts, learning gardens integrate a variety of educational experiences.
Turn-key lessons
Our instructors come to your school with fully prepared lessons and materials–no extra effort required from the teachers.
Practical application
Garden education teaches students valuable and practical life skills.
Imitating nature with regenerative gardening
Unlike a traditional tilled garden, regenerative gardening covers the ground with organic matter, which nourishes rather than depletes or disturbs the soil and works with nature to create conditions similar to the forest floor, where plants naturally thrive.
