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JANUARY

Climate Action Day Workshop: Energy

• Who: Any partner teacher (PreK-12+)
• Where: Virtual/Zoom
• When:
  • Monday, January 8th | 3pm | Register Here
  • Wednesday, January 10th | 12pm | Register Here

Overview: Join us for a NYSW professional learning session to prepare for your next NYC Climate Action Day! This Climate Action Day is focused on Energy and will take place on Wednesday, February 4th. This professional learning session will give you time to plan! We will share NY Sun Works learning resources, lessons, and units related to engaging students in energy-conscious projects and action steps. You and your fellow partner teachers will brainstorm and come up with plans to implement this in your Hydroponic Classrooms and schools!

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Parent Coordinator Information Session

Please join us for a tailored information session about our program and how we can support you in uplifting the fantastic work of your students in their Hydroponic Classroom and engaging families.

Check back here regularly for future sessions.

(ONLY OPEN TO PARTNER SCHOOL PARENT COORDINATORS)

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CBS42: New Initiative Brings Hydroponic Farming to 8 Birmingham chools

A first-of-its-kind program in the nation is introducing hydroponic farming technology to eight schools across the district, giving nearly 4,000 students a hands-on way to learn science.

The initiative is a partnership between Birmingham City Schools, Jones Valley Teaching Farm and New York Sun Works. They’ve created classroom greenhouses where students can grow plants and harvest vegetables.

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Where Can a Degree in Indoor Agriculture Get You?

Sage Cormier was finishing her junior year of college in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Almost overnight, the supply chains stalled, putting a great strain on food access for Sage’s community. For Sage, this crisis revealed all too clearly the risks of relying on outsourced food production and served as a wake up call that inspired her next move into indoor agriculture.

During the first phase of lockdown, Sage closely followed local media coverage of events as they unfolded, growing increasingly concerned about the situation in her surrounding communities in the Upper Peninsula. “With the growing social unrest during the pandemic and supply chain issues directly affecting our food access, I found myself thinking: How can I help my community?” 

Happily for Sage, in 2020, with the support of NY Sun Works, Marquette’s NMU launched its inaugural indoor agriculture associate’s degree. This was the first associate’s degree of its type in the country, providing education and certification for people wanting to enter the burgeoning world of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA). Branching out from its K-12 specialization, NY Sun Works helped launch the program, providing the curriculum, teacher training, and hydroponic and aquaponic systems. 

Around that time, Sage received an email from NMU notifying her about the new associates degree, and ideas started forming. “I began having a lot of crazy ideas to bring people together by providing food through hydroponic installations in abandoned buildings in Marquette.” The degree seemed like a great opportunity to turn her food justice ambitions into concrete and meaningful work. Sage decided to enroll.

Initial impressions were fantastic. “I really loved the program from the start. The work I was doing and the information I was learning felt rigorous – I felt like a scientist.” More importantly, Sage felt the course nurtured and supported her passion for food justice. 

NYSW welcomed representatives from Northern Michigan University at a networking side event during our 14th Annual Youth Conference at the Javits Center

When Sage graduated in 2021, she knew she wanted tactile work with plants, especially as a means to tackle issues around food equity. Naturally, through an interest both in hydroponics and education, NYSW began to feel like a good fit. At NYSW, Sage could work physically with hydroponics but also help develop an indoor agriculture curriculum that benefited student development and contributed to various food justice-related issues.

Thanks in part to her experiences at NMU, it wasn’t long before Sage stepped  into the role of instructor on the NYSW Urban Agriculture Workforce Development Program. NYSW launched this workforce readiness training in 2022 with the support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In brief, the program equips high school students with technical skills and environmental science knowledge to help streamline them into green jobs upon certification. Sage’s role is to train teachers, maintain systems and supervise the rigorous theoretical and practical tests which students must complete before graduating.  

“It’s funny, because a lot of the work I do now feels directly related to the work I did at NMU.  My degree prepared me really well.” For Sage, the transition into the professional world from the associate’s degree was seamless. It provided her with foundational skills and paired well with other interests, like education, to work in more specialized sectors of the indoor agriculture world.

Sage gives resumé writing advice to two students during the CEA Networking Fair at the 14th Annual Youth Conference

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THE KELLY CLARKSON SHOW: Kelly Clarkson Loves DIY Urban Gardening In Schools

New York Sun Works is a nonprofit bringing sustainable urban farming to underserved classrooms by building hydroponic gardens! Executive director and mother of two Manuela shares how the gardens are teaching students about the future of farming, while also helping feed the community. Kelly also meets fifth graders Zoe and Giovanni, who demonstrate how a hydroponic garden works. Watch till the end for a huge surprise for New York Sun Works!

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Ask a GST!

Who: Any partner teacher (PreK-12+)

Where: Virtual/Zoom

When: Monday, September 29th | 3pm | Register Here

Overview: Please join us for the first session of our recurring Ask a GST professional development series, where teachers can drop in to build their technical knowledge and bring all their questions about the technical side of the Hydroponic Classroom. This session will cover important topics for starting the year in the HC, including planting strategies and general troubleshooting tips.

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STEM Hydroponic Kit Info Sessions

STEM Kits are BACK IN STOCK! Please complete this form if you are interested in STEM Kits for the 2025-26 school year. 

The education team will be hosting several virtual information sessions to share with teachers the goals of our STEM kits as well as ideas for how to utilize them and the associated curriculum in the classroom.

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NY Sun Works Partnership Info Sessions

Are you interested in bringing a NY Sun Works Hydroponic Classroom to your school? Join us for an information session to learn more about our program, hear about grants available for Hydroponic Classrooms including capital funding, and ask our team any questions you may have. Registration is now available for Zoom information sessions, please spread the word!

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FEBRUARY

Youth Conference Info Sessions

Who: All NYSW Partner Teachers interested in attending or participating in this year’s 14th annual Youth Conference

When: 

Monday, February 24 | 3pm-4pm | Register Here

Wednesday, February 26 | 3pm-4pm | Register Here

Where: Virtual/Zoom

Overview: If you are interested in learning more about our 14th annual NY Sun Works Discovering Sustainability Science Youth Conference, please join us at one of our information sessions. Our annual conference brings together students from hundreds of partner classrooms across the five boroughs of NYC to share students’ own investigations and action projects through student-led presentations!

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VERTICAL FARM DAILY: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Partners with NY Sun Works to Bring Climate Education to Coney Island Schools

Brooklyn students at select schools will be seeing a lot more green on their campuses, as one congressman joined kids at a Coney Island school to present funds for teaching students about urban farming and planting. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was at Rachel Carson High School to present $500,000 in federal money to New York Sun Works, the organization providing the hydroponic farms to the schools.  

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IGROW NEWS: NY Sun Works Awarded Grant to Build First Hydroponic Classroom in Yonkers

NY Sun Works Executive Director Manuela Zamora announced that the organization has received a $49,931 grant from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. The funding will support the design and construction of a new Hydroponic Classroom at Lincoln High School in Yonkers, providing students with hands-on sustainability education through seed-to-harvest hydroponic farming.

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HARLEM WORLD: Assemblymember Torres, NY Sun Works Launch Hydroponic Classroom In Bronx School

New York Sun Works joined New York State Assemblymember Emérita Torres yesterday to announce the funding for a new state-of-the-art Hydroponic Classroom. The classroom takes place at Archimedes Academy for Math, Science & Technology Applications in the Bronx. The new lab will provide ongoing support to bring hands-on climate and sustainability education at the school.

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THE STORY EXCHANGE: Meet the Nonprofit Leader Who’s Teaching Kids About Hydroponic Farming

At NY Sun Works, Bolivia-born Manuela Zamora has pioneered a hands-on approach to train the next generation of climate scientists and farmers.

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CUNY TV: NY Sun Works Executive Director Manuela Features in ‘Sustainability Matters’ episode

In this episode of Sustainability Matters, we shine a light on NY Sun Works, a nonprofit organization transforming the way science and sustainability are taught in urban schools. Mariève Amy sits down with Manuela Zamora, Executive Director of NY Sun Works, to explore how the organization brings hydroponic farming into New York City classrooms—empowering students to grow food, understand climate challenges, and become environmental stewards from a young age.

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QNS: Queens Families Harvest over 50 Pounds of Produce at NYSCI’s Hydroponics Lab

The New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) teamed up with sustainability nonprofit New York Sun Works to welcome Queens families to NYSCI on July 11 to harvest over 50 pounds of produce grown at a hydroponics lab at the Queens-based science museum. 

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What did our Youth Press Teams Discover at our 14th Youth Conference?

We just completed our 14th Annual Discovering Sustainability Science Youth Conference and now it’s time to hear from our Youth Press Team! 

This year, 16 students ranging from 8 to 18 years old took on the role of junior reporters, interviewing both their student peers and guest speakers. As each team of student presenters took their bow, our Youth Press Team was there ready to delve deeper into the topics of climate education and sustainability science.

Those interviewed included: Joyce Leveston, CEO of the Javits Center, and Alexis Harley, Chief Risk and Resilience Officer for the New York Power Authority (NYPA). 

Thank you to Aloysius, Lily, Aiden, Ayden, Sam, Israel, Daniel, Mee’ah, Darlene, Zoe, Chloe, Marcus, Sebastian, Paloma and Karun for all your hard work on the articles! Click on each student’s name to check out their final works. A special thank you to Gina Marmol, Isabelle Giannella, JoEllen Schuleman, Valeria Bell, Jessica Casimir, Lindsey Bair, Neril Sandeep, and Jennifer Donnely for all the support along the way!

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