Carrot Detectives on the Case!
By Kathy Bego, Garden Educator This month, our 3rd and 4th graders put on their investigator caps to uncover the secrets of carrots! Like true detectives, they used their key sleuthing skills—curiosity, attention to detail, and perseverance—to explore this vibrant vegetable. 🔍 The Investigation Begins: Andrea guided older students through a colorful slide presentation, reintroducing […]
Dreaming in Green: Godfrey Elementary Students Design Their Own Gardens
The young gardeners at Godfrey Elementary Team 21 after-school program let their imaginations bloom as they designed their very own dream gardens! After an inspiring garden planning presentation by Ms. Angie, students eagerly got to work, armed with paper, vibrant seed catalogs, and plenty of coloring supplies. With their thinking caps on and creativity in […]
Planting Seeds of Health: Learning, Tasting, and Growing with H.O.P.E. Gardens
Outside, snow still blankets our school gardens! While the winter weather slowed things down outdoors, inside, students in 58 Wyoming and Godwin STEAM classrooms stayed busy learning about nutrition, gardening, and healthy eating with H.O.P.E. Gardens’ teachers. This month, first and second graders focused on “eating the rainbow,” discovering how different colored fruits and vegetables […]
Reflecting on 2024 and Growing Together in 2025
As 2024 comes to a close, we’re proud to reflect on a year filled with growth, education, and community impact. This year, HOPE Gardens reached 2,641 students in garden and nutrition classes that inspired young minds and fostered a love for healthy living. From engaging students to hosting workshops and our successful heirloom plant sale, […]
Putting Our Gardens to Sleep for the Winter
As the growing season comes to an end, it’s time to tuck our gardens in for their winter rest. Recent mulch deliveries at North Godwin and Lee Middle helped us prepare the soil for the colder months, ensuring it stays protected and nourished. These two gardens needed a little extra attention, but luckily we had […]
New Fences and Expansions at Four School Gardens
Big things are happening in our school gardens! This fall, four Wyoming school gardens received brand-new fences: Godfrey Early Childhood Center, Godfrey Elementary, Gladiola Elementary, and West Elementary. These additions bring both beauty and functionality to each space, making the gardens even more welcoming and efficient. At Gladiola Elementary and West Elementary, the upgrades didn’t […]
From Soil to Plate: First Graders Discover the Journey of Food
By Angie Bruder, Garden Educator How does food get here? Does it just appear in stores? To answer that question, first graders at West Godwin explored the fascinating journey of cornflakes from soil to plate. Students learned that all foods come from nature, and then many foods are trucked to factories for processing and packaging. […]
October Garden Lessons: 1st and 2nd Grades Discover the Joys of Gardening and Healthy Eating
In our indoor sessions in 31 classrooms of first and second graders, we explored the question, “What’s so great about gardening?” Together, we discussed the benefits of growing our own food and the importance of making healthy choices. This led to a lively conversation about “Sometime Foods” and “Anytime Foods,” helping students understand which snacks […]
H.O.P.E. Gardens Featured in School News Network: Cultivating Community and Learning
This year, H.O.P.E. Gardens was honored to be one of only four organizations in Michigan awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program. School News Network visited our schools to learn more about what this grant means for us. Check out their article here.
Growing Dreams: A New Community Garden for Families & Neighbors
Last week several dreams were fulfilled as a new community no-till nature-based garden was installed. The dream of a dear friend of many, Theresa Drost, was realized as children joyfully prepared the land to begin a new garden where families will come together to grow food and community. The dream of Family Network who envisions […]