Congratulations to the 2022 Budding Botanist Grant Winners!
The Budding Botanist Grant, presented by Klorane Botanical Foundation and KidsGardening, is designed to support programs that teach respect for the environment and protect nature through the preservation of plant species and biodiversity.
In 2022, the following eighteen programs will be awarded a check for $1,000 to support the development of youth gardens that help our youngest citizens learn about plants, explore their world, and inspire them to take care of their local ecosystems.
Audrey W. Clark School (Long Branch, New Jersey)
The school garden at Audrey W. Clark will provide an outdoor learning space for students to explore nature and get first-hand experience in sustainable garden practices and nutrition using native plants, climate-friendly, and water-wise practices, and edible foods.
Brasher Falls Central School District (Brasher Falls, New York)
The new courtyard garden at Brasher Falls Central School District will provide an opportunity to teach students what is possible to grow in a small area by developing a greenhouse, a pollinator garden, and a nature trail.
Bridges Public Charter School (Washington, DC)
The Life Science and Garden Program at Bridges Public Charter School is designed to provide experiential education opportunities that enrich their science and social studies curriculum while cultivating an appreciation for nature. The garden expansion will include native and perennial plants, and students will grow beans, squash, and corn, the Three Sisters, to promote agricultural balance, sustainability, healthy eating, and the indigenous heritage of their land.
Cooper Academy at Navarro (San Antonio, Texas)
The Urban Zen Garden at Cooper Academy at Navarro will create an oasis of calm amid a busy urban setting to teach about respecting the environment, most fundamental to appreciating other cultures. The new zen garden will include native plants, and rain collection and composting practices.
Deer Isle Stonington Elementary School (Deer Isle, Maine)
The foundation of the garden at Deer Isle Stonington Elementary School is built on sustainability and biodiversity and the garden expansion will include growing crops to provide snacks to students, composting programs, and the continuation of the Blue Hubbard Squash Project.
Eastway Elementary School (Durham, North Carolina)
The garden at Eastway Elementary School will begin the process of attracting pollinators and wildlife to support their natural ecosystem. Native and pollinator-friendly perennial plants will be added to the garden in tandem with birdhouses and feeders, butterfly houses, and multiple water features.
High School for Climate Justice (New York, New York)
The new garden at the High School for Climate Justice will focus on native species to New York to teach students about the natural ecosystems in their home communities. The garden program will be spearheaded by the school’s Green Team and will include native plants, pollinators, composting, and rain collection practices.
Inskip Elementary School (Knoxville, Tennessee)
The garden at Inskip Elementary School will engage the community in sustainable agriculture practices, through the production and maintenance of heirloom varieties of crops, seed saving, no-till gardening, and native perennial plantings to increase biodiversity. The garden expansion will provide a robust environment for pollinators and indigenous fauna.
Konawaena Elementary School (Kealakekua, Hawaii)
Konawaena Elementary School’s garden provides students and staff with an outdoor learning space that fosters scientific exploration, social-emotional learning, nutritional opportunities, and aloha ʻāina. The garden expansion will increase the number of native plants in the area using indigenous cultural practices, restoring the ecosystem from invasive plants.
Livingston Collegiate Academy (New Orleans, Louisiana)
The Seeds for Social Justice program at Livingston Collegiate Academy will build environmental sustainability as they grow food locally, farm organically, and increase the number of species grown in the area. The school’s garden will add biodiversity to the New Orleans area, which has been affected by frequent hurricanes and climate events.
Miner School/Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization (Arlington Heights, Illinois)
The new Miner School Garden will be a space where students can go to expand their Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math projects. The garden will promote sustainability and biodiversity through native plants, pollinator plants, a greenhouse, composting, and by practicing seed saving.
Monarch Montessori of Denver Charter Elementary (Denver, Colorado)
The mission of the garden program at Monarch Montessori of Denver Charter Elementary is to teach students about landscaping design technology, perennial plants, and methods for planting a native pollinator garden. The students will conduct citizen science projects in the garden to support pollinators such as the Monarch butterfly, Colorado native bees, and migrating hummingbirds.
North Georgetown Elementary School (Georgetown, Delaware)
North Georgetown Elementary School Garden provides a vibrant outdoor classroom and thriving ecosystem where children and families learn how to grow food, search for insects, learn about species adaptations, and create environments for wildlife. The garden space is designed through permaculture concepts with varying zones which include native flowering plants, grasses, trees, shrubs, and soil builders, and are extending their ecological coordinator to include a neighboring farm/forest.
Odyssey Charter School, Inc. (Palm Bay, Florida)
The Odyssey Charter School is a green school that supports global sustainability through academics and innovative farming and gardening experiences that prepare students to lead the world toward a healthier, cleaner, more sustainable future. The gardening program’s vision is to expand the current organic farming program by creating a garden designed to attract pollinators and the school will work with a local beekeeper chapter at the University of Florida to teach students about pollination and the role bees play as pollinators.
Robinwood Intermediate (Ferguson-Florissant, Missouri)
The mission of Robinwood’s gardening program is to share a space with their students where plants, gardens, and green spaces play a critical role in creating a healthy, livable, and sustainable planet. The new garden will teach students about water conservation using rainwater collection and recycling through the use of biodegradable products. The students will also participate in an ecological and native plant restoration project with a community partner.
Sandburg Middle School (Glendora, California)
The gardening program at Sandburg Middle School has a goal of being completely off the grid and sustainable. The school’s new garden will include solar power for energy generation, an on-site composting center to teach students about reducing waste and repurposing food scraps, and a rainwater collection system to capture water to irrigate the garden.
Santiago High School (Garden Grove, California)
The Cav Garden at Santiago High School will connect students to food and nature so they become lifelong stewards of their health and the environment. Incorporating ecological practices that center on soil and plant health, the Cav Garden expansion will foster a respect for sustainability and balance of material and energy that are critical for our natural world to function. The students will become citizens who value and advocate for environmental health.
Pearce Hall (Wentzville, Missouri)
The new gardening program at Pearce Hall will be used to promote environmental sustainability by starting a recycling and composting program within the school. Also, as the garden expands, the program will use recycled or reused materials for building and constructing the garden. The program will promote biodiversity by creating a large native plant garden that will attract pollinators to the area. Students will also share their gardening knowledge with other schools in the district by propagating vegetable starts and teaching others how to plant and care for their school garden.