2715 Reading Road
Cincinnati, OH 45206
Youth Education
The Civic Garden Center builds community through gardening, education and environmental stewardship. Families and neighbors are brought together and taught how to take responsibility for their environment and develop a strong sense of community. A Dater grant funded Youth Education, which includes a robust hands-on experiential school garden program that connects and supports botanical education at over 100 school and youth organizations. The program includes outreach visits to schools and community centers, professional development workshops for teachers, and a free garden-to-table family summer camp experience conducted in several community gardens around Greater Cincinnati. In 2018, 303 youth education classes and field trips reaching 6,596 children took place.
Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati
2715 reading Road, Cincinnati, OH 45206
(513) 221-0981
Teach a Child to Grow … read Daniel's Success Story
“If they grow it, they’ll eat it,” says Judy Ganance, a teacher at Parker Woods Montessori. Teachers know it, studies show it: children involved in gardens are more likely to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Even bright students can be uninterested in learning — especially if they think that what they’re learning is not relevant to their everyday lives. But tap into their interests—for example, as a school garden does, with its emphasis on the living world and hands-on activities—and students suddenly get excited.
Take Daniel, for instance. Daniel was bright, but his response to any assignment was, “Why do we have to do that?” This fall (2018), Daniel’s class at Parker Woods Montessori started weekly garden lessons with Ellie Falk, CGC’s Youth Education Coordinator. She started with a seed lesson and brought in some beans for them to soak in water overnight so they could observe what changed. Daniel suddenly got interested. Now, every morning before school starts, even before Judy arrives at the classroom door, she said Daniel’s there waiting for her. He wants to check on the garden and see what’s happening. When she asked why he was so excited about the garden, but never got that excited about his other work, Daniel said, “Nobody’s ever asked me to study something like this before!”
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