KIPP Memphis Academy Middle - Urban Gardening Club

We will bring a formalized vegetable gardening extracurricular club to KIPP Memphis Academy Middle.  We will build 5 natural cedar, raised garden beds (4 feet by 8 feet each) and 4 small ones (2 feet by 2 feet each).  Once the beds are installed and the gardening tools are purchased, KIPP will have the physical resources needed to administer the activities and the program on their own.  KIPP will administer the program, working with the students to teach them the joys and benefits of urban gardening.

1. Purchase lumber, posts, and screws from Home Depot  2. Build all the garden beds at my home shop  3. Install the beds at KIPP Memphis Academy Middle and fill with soil from Yardworks  4. Purchase a tool box, rake, shovels, gloves, hose etc. with the help of Jane Grimes (teacher at KIPP Memphis Academy Middle), as she can assess the real day-to-day needs  5. All to be completed by the end of the school year (end of May)

Many of the students at KIPP Memphis Academy Middle walk to school and have limited access to transportation.  This leads to reduced access to major grocery stores and fresh produce.  Showing these students the rewards of backyard and urban gardening will hopefully translate out into their own homes and communities.  Letting these students participate from planting a seed to picking a fresh vegetable will surely teach patience and preparedness and bring joys and rewards to their already thriving school lives.  By adding the extracurricular urban gardening club, students will participate in the beautification of their own school and learn to take pride in their own space.