Earth Matter NY + HYPOTHEkids Deliver Online Learning to Harlem Students
During the pandemic, Earth Matter brings Soil Start Farm to Harlem middle-schoolers, with the collaboration of HYPOTHEkids.
Leader
Mark Leger
Location
MS 371 New York, NY 10027
About the project
Breaking news: We reached our goal! Additional funding will be used to make available our innovative experiential education to NYC public school students and visitors directly on Governors Island—once it is safe to do so.
In 2019, Earth Matter NY began a collaboration with M.S. 371, the School of Earth Exploration and Discovery Harlem (SEED Harlem). Opened in 2020, this small, innovative, public middle school is rooted in project-based learning, outdoor experiences, hands-on approaches, and community engagement. We are like soul mates!
Earth Matter is rising to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic by partnering with cutting-edge curriculum lab HYPOTHEkids to find new ways to connect with the young minds at SEED Harlem. Together we will develop and deliver online and open-source teaching resources focused on environmental and food justice, viewed through the lens of composting, Earth Matter’s area of expertise for over a decade.
With 70% of NYC students now attending school via computer, and the end to the Covid-19 pandemic still months away (at best), access to high-quality online resources for both teachers and students is critical.
As leaders in the greening and composting communities, Earth Matter feels duty-bound to ensure that locally-focused curricula around composting and important, interconnected issues—nutrition, sustainable urban agriculture, and food and social justice—is widely available.
Your donations will help Earth Matter create an exciting online curriculum that will benefit not only SEED:Harlem, but students across New York City and the globe; young minds eager to learn about their role in the movement to save the planet, starting from the ground up.
The Steps
1. Develop new curriculum outline, using as source material the lesson plans that were developed in 2019.
2. Finalize which elements of the curriculum must be carried out in the classroom or school yard, or in the students’ homes—for example, worm bins—and which parts needs to use Earth Matter's Governors Island facility.
3. Record videos at the Compost Learning Center and Soil Start Farm, edit videos, and develop companion teaching materials, such as readings and written exercises.
4. Upload the videos and teaching materials, then celebrate!
Why we‘re doing it
Earth Matter, SEED Harlem (M.S. 371), and HYPOTHEkids are all committed to building the food justice movement in Harlem by promoting food waste awareness and composting, urban agriculture, sound nutrition, and environmental responsibility.
References:
Earth Matter – www.earthmatter.org
HYPOTHEKIDS – HYPOTHEkids website
SEED: Harlem – www.ms371.org