NY Sun Works receives $500,000 USDA GRANT for urban agriculture and climate education teacher training
August 22, 2024
Welcome Back! What better way to start the new school year than with a $500,000-sized vote of confidence from the Department of Agriculture?
NY Sun Works Executive Director Manuela Zamora announced a $500,000 professional development and agricultural literacy grant (PDAL) from the US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA) to provide teachers in partner schools with comprehensive curriculum and technical training in hydroponic farming and sustainability science. NY Sun Works joins a cohort of prestigious academic institutions that totals $7.1 million in grants among 14 awardees. The grant will also help to expand the organization’s professional learning content with new modules in classroom management practices in a hydroponic classroom setting and adapting the curriculum and classroom to support high level special needs.
“We thank the USDA for recognizing our excellence in urban agriculture and sustainability science education and providing this transformative grant to bolster professional development for science teachers at new partner schools,” said NY Sun Works Executive Director Manuela Zamora. “NY Sun Works is deeply committed to empowering our city’s extraordinary science teachers who are preparing the next generation of scientists, urban farmers and climate activists to help find solutions to climate change challenges and food insecurity in their communities.”
NY Sun Works’ three-year teacher professional learning program includes one-on-one curriculum and technical farming training and mentoring as well as group professional learning sessions throughout the school year. This “train the teacher” approach, provided by NY Sun Works’ team of educators and hydroponic farming professionals, enables teachers to confidently implement the nonprofit’s curriculum and use the hydroponic systems effectively as teaching tools, in turn supporting an optimal learning experience for the students and building student interest in and engagement with urban agriculture and the related foundational sciences.
The PDAL grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative’s Education and Workforce Development program trains educators and school administrators in the food and agricultural sciences, helping them to develop and apply skills necessary for integrating food and agricultural science concepts in their classes; explore science career paths in agriculture as well as cultivate mentorships with leaders and faculty at four-year institutions. For more information about the grant and recipients visit this link.
