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The 13th Annual Discovering Sustainability Science Youth Conference
The Youth Conference is an annual celebration of science and a student showcase where Farmer Scientists from our partner schools take the stage to share their projects and research in the world of climate science. This year’s conference will be held on Thursday May 23, 2024 at the iconic Javits Center, where students in grades 3-12 will present live to our audience of students, educators, guest speakers, elected officials, and more. Registration for this year’s conference is now open to NY Sun Works partner schools! For more information, please join one of our Youth Conference Info Sessions, also found on our Upcoming Events Calendar.
Thursday, May 24, 2024 | 10:30 am – 12:30 pm (Doors Open @ 9:30 am) – Register Here
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NY Sun Works Partnership Info Sessions
Are you interested in bringing a NY Sun Works hydroponic farm 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!
Wednesday, April 3, 2024 | 3-4 pm – Register Here
Friday, May 3, 2024 | 10-11am – Register Here
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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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US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona Visits NY Sun Works Hydroponic Classroom, Sees Opportunities for Students
US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona made the rounds in New York City on Tuesday, touting investments for teachers and students, as schools get ready for the upcoming academic year. He toured schools in Queens and Brooklyn alongside Congress members Grace Meng and Nydia Velazquez.
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Brooklyn and Queens Schools Get STEM and Sustainability Curriculum Thanks to Rep. Nydia Velázquez
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez recently presented a check worth $800,000 in funding to NY Sun Works — a New York-based nonprofit that delivers science and sustainability education through urban farming to K-12 students — to provide schools in Brooklyn and Queens with hydroponic farm technology to enhance each school’s science curriculum.
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Queens Chronicle: BP Richards Pushes for Hydroponics Labs
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Daily Eagle: Borough President Set to Announce $2.3 Million for Hydroponics Labs in Queens
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The Harvard Business School Club of NY at the High School for Climate Justice
This month, we were joined by an exciting group of guests from our long-time partners at the Harvard Business School Club of NY (HBSCNY) for a tour of the Hydroponic Classroom at the High School for Climate Justice! Joined by representatives on our Board of Directors, and guided by students at the Manhattan high school, members of the HBSCNY were able to get a closer look at the cutting edge urban farming technology that powers our partner schools’ Hydroponic Classrooms, and explore how students have been growing crops from seed to harvest and diving deeper into sustainability science.
The lab’s various systems were looking beautiful and lush, a testament to the hard work of students who have truly immersed themselves in the role of Farmer Scientists. As part of the tour, guests were able to join in on a hydroponic harvest, helping students pick leafy greens and fresh veggies from the vine. They were also collecting beautiful, bright orange marigold petals to dehydrate and use in salads! Afterwards, students and guests prepared a healthy snack from the harvest, with some even choosing to bag up their green goodies and take them home! Of course, after every harvest comes the sowing of new seeds, so together, attendees planted the next harvest in rockwool before departing for the evening.
We are proud to have had the support of the HBSCNY for the past several years, as a recipient of the HBSCNY Gold Leadership Award, and recent participants in their Community Partner Leadership Award program. We are thankful to have wonderful partner organizations and schools alike who are excited to get to work in the hydroponic classroom, reinvigorating their passion for STEM and climate education.
Thank you once again to all the members of HBSCNY who joined us at the High School for Climate Justice, as well as to the students who displayed their mastery over urban farming and passion for hands-on learning. We’re incredibly grateful to partner with organizations who understand the urgency of our mission, and the importance of providing meaningful climate education opportunities to the next generation of New Yorkers. Change starts in the classroom, and we can’t imagine a better way to rekindle the joy of learning than surrounding young people with supportive leaders who are willing to show up with feet on the ground to make it happen. Together, we can bring nature and quality education into every NYC classroom!
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QNS: Richmond Hill High School Launches Hydroponic Classroom and Cultivates Sustainability Education
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CBS News: NY Sun Works Helps Communities Across New York City Study Climate Change
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News12: Students Present Hydroponic Research Projects at the Annual Bronx STEAM Expo
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Celebrating Women’s History Month
March is Women’s History Month, an occasion that honors the achievements and contributions women have made throughout America’s history, breaking barriers, fighting for equality, and innovating to build a better future. At NY Sun Works, we are proud that 60% of our team are women, who spearhead our strategy, programming, teacher training, events, and more. In the classroom, women also lead the way, with both city-wide and national averages trending toward 75%* of in-school educators identifying as women. We believe a sustainable future starts in the classroom, and want to celebrate both the women on our team and those at the many school partners we work with who are helping us equip students with the tools to tackle the most pressing issue of our time: climate change.
However, systemic discrimination persists, which is why it’s so important to discuss topics like this. To our dismay, women continue to be discouraged from pursuing educational opportunities and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Today, women represent only 35%** of the STEM workforce. And although there has been an increase in female participation in STEM over the past two decades; Latinx, Black, and Indigenous women remain wildly underrepresented, at less than 10%** of the STEM workforce. In order to create a more sustainable future, our top priority is providing communities in all areas of the city with equitable access to high-quality climate and STEM education.
To that end, we are committed to building a generation of Farmer Scientists emboldened to create solutions to climate challenges, and changing the narrative for young women and girls when it comes to science-related careers. In our Hydroponic Classrooms, students of all genders can find the resources, tools, and confidence to pursue higher education in STEM. By learning through farming, students are encouraged to get excited, invest in their education, and consider a future where they are climate scientists, activists, and leaders. Many of our current students have already felt the empowering effects of hands-on learning, excelling in their investigative research projects and taking on stewardship roles in their local communities.
As we grow alongside school partners across the city, we’re excited to also continue uplifting girls and young women as they confidently explore the wonderful world of climate and sustainability science. Through growing plants in the classroom, we’re connecting students with the growing world of green careers, breaking down barriers for students who are passionate about the health of our planet. Together, we can create a greener, more inclusive, and ever-more sustainable future for NYC.
*Merrill, L., Kang, D. 2017. “What is the Gender Breakdown of NYC Teachers?” Spotlight on NYC Schools. Research Alliance for New York City Schools.
https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/research-alliance/research/spotlight-nyc-schools/what-gender-breakdown-nyc-teachers#:~:text=Women%20made%20up%2074.6%25%20of,from%2025.4%25%20to%2023.4%25.
**NGCP, March 2024, The State of Girls in STEM.
https://ngcproject.org/sites/default/files/downloadables/2024-02/NGCP-TheStateofGirlsinSTEM-March2024.pdf
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News12: Williamsburg School Celebrates 10 Years of Providing Hands-On Climate Education
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Growing Green Partnerships: Cutting the Ribbon at PS 147 Isaac Remsen
This morning, we celebrated the 10 year anniversary of one of our founding partnerships at PS 147 in Brooklyn! Joined by special guests including Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez and Executive Director of NYC Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture Qiana Mickie, we celebrated this momentous occasion as the school unveiled its newly renovated Hydroponic Classroom. With so many years of climate education experience under their belt, the Farmer Scientists of PS147 showed off just how far they’d come, and we’re equally inspired to see what amazing things are still in store!
“PS 147 is leading our students into the future every day, and today’s grand opening of the hydroponic lab is a perfect example of their commitment to our children,” said Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez (D-34). “Schools know that to prepare our next generation for tomorrow, curricula must include STEAM and adapting to climate change, which includes learning how to sustainably grow our own food. PS 147 is an incredible community that gives so much to our children and families, and I’m thrilled to support NY Sun Works and this amazing resource for everyone to thrive.”
As we continue our journey toward a sustainable future, our roots in New York City also have grown ever-deeper, with some of the first partnerships we established now operating for almost a decade. For each of those years, a new group of New Yorkers experiences a new way of thinking about their food, what it takes to grow it, and where it comes from. While with this week’s ribbon cutting we’re inaugurating an expanded program at PS 147, we’re doing so in the same spirit of learning and discovery that motivated the construction of our first Hydroponic Classroom all those years ago. With almost 150 school partners in Brooklyn alone and another 26 in the Borough on the way by the end of this year, the green spaces created at each of our partner schools have begun to grow together to create a collective community of like-minded sustainability scientists, activists, and experts who are eager to dive into the joy of learning and imagine solutions to everyday climate challenges.
“Hydroponic classrooms offer hands-on opportunities for students to learn climate education, sustainability, and urban farming, and they strengthen science in schools,” said Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture Executive Director Qiana Mickie. “Congratulations to PS 147 and NY Sun Works on a successful, ten-year collaboration that builds the climate and food stewards of tomorrow.”
“I am so happy to be in Bushwick to celebrate the partnership between PS 147 and NY Sun Works,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “Over the past 10 years, collaboration between PS 147 and NY Sun Works has brought students a significant understanding of the natural world and keen awareness of the environmental issues impacting our globe. To mount a successful fight against climate change, we need young people involved, and I am confident that through this continued partnership and a newly renovated hydroponic farm classroom, even more students will be empowered to make meaningful change in our world.”
Among many long-term sustainability initiatives, there’s a sense that while amazing things are happening, many of us impassioned by current events are planting the seeds of shade that we may never see. To that end, celebrating this 10-year anniversary also instills us with a sense of pride, in that we’ve been able to watch students explore multiple years of successive climate education, engaging with curriculum of increasing depth and rigor as they grow alongside the plants in their classrooms. The global stage is often rife with mixed news, so we hope occasions like this inspire those within New York City and beyond to take action, dream big, and feel confident that there are others who share the same passion we do for climate education.
We’d like to say thank you again to PS 147 and Principal Sandra Noyola for a long and flourishing partnership, as well as Borough President Reynoso, Executive Director Qiana Mickie, and Council Member Gutiérrez for supporting our Farmer Scientists and helping us emphasize the importance of this occasion. The path to a sustainable future in New York is paved with long-term partnerships and meaningful investments, and after today, we’re excited to see what possibilities are in store for the next 10 years!
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Youth Conference Info Sessions
If you are interested in learning more about our 13th annual Discovering Sustainability Science Youth Conference, please join us at one of our information sessions. Our annual conference brings together students in person from hundreds of partner classrooms across the five boroughs of NYC to share students’ own investigations and action projects through student-led presentations!