The Growing Power of LEEF

The following blog post was written by Sarah Pilato,
Lead Sustainability Educator on Spark-Y school program partnership with Edison High School.

Two years ago, Spark-Y began an exhilarating new program in collaboration with Edison High School called the LEEF Pathway. LEEF (Leaders in Environmental and Entrepreneurial Futures) is a pathway that Edison students can choose to follow throughout their high school career which will allow them to gain knowledge that is necessary on their journey towards graduating, in a way that is innovative and experiential.

The idea was born from the successes of already established programs and from the hearts of our Spark-Y team that saw what a meaningful impact these programs were having on the Edison community. Students involved in previous years programming showed extremely high interest in the hands-on nature of the projects and increasing engagement and attendance as the year went on. What Spark-Y was able to create was an environment that catered to students who learned by doing. Activities, labs, and independent projects that have real-world outcomes are the cornerstones of our programs and we knew we had to find a way to expand those opportunities to include more students.

When the idea of LEEF was just budding (pun intended) it included our existing environmental science class known as EASYpro (Edible Agriculture School Yard Professionals) and LEEF Biology. Students taking these classes were using aquaponics systems to learn about plant and fish biology and ecosystems; gardens and greenhouses to learn about entrepreneurship and population studies; vermicompost to learn about closed-loop cycles and decomposition. Edison High School has so many amazing resources as a part of their Green Campus and not allowing students to utilize and learn from them would be a wasted opportunity. It is our goal to integrate these and other systems (such as the solar roof and rainwater catchment) into as many LEEF classes as possible since they provide such a wonderful hands-on way of showing how what’s learned in school can apply to real-life scenarios.

Lead Sustainability Educator, Sarah, teaching a group of EHS staff and students about the school’s aquaponic system, which was designed and built by EASYpro students.

Smaller scale aquaponic systems that are used in LEEF biology throughout the year.

Our pilot year of the LEEF Pathway seemed to be off to a great start! Students were excited and engaged, more and more were wanting to enroll in LEEF classes, and expansion of the program was becoming not only realistic, but necessary. It was time for us to really start sprouting!

The last two years have seen a lot of growth within the LEEF Pathway. What began as a simple pilot with just two classes now reaches across many departments at Edison High School. In addition to environmental science and biology, Spark-Y now collaborates with the science department in physics and chemistry; we have helped develop an environmental art class; and have begun a special education collaboration in addition to several other opportunities. (See the full list below if you are curious about all of the classes that Spark-Y partners with at Edison.)

EHS junior Ramel, and senior Fartun measure bamboo to be cut for pollinator houses

I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this process since the beginning. I spend much of my working time directly in Edison and get to see and work with many of the students currently going through the LEEF Pathway. Current EHS senior, Fartun, who took environmental science during first semester told us that it was her favorite class she’s taken this year because she loved working in the aquaponics lab rather than sitting at her desk all hour.

It is also very exciting for me to be the driving force behind some of the program expansions. This year is our first year of programming within Edison’s special education department and is probably the most fun I have with a class all week long. DCD teacher Ross Porter has opened up about the growth he has seen in his students this year saying “it’s extraordinary how excited they are to participate.” It’s clear to see that even small activities make a huge impact when students feel included in their community.

EHS students Kinnicki and Abdullahi harvesting pea microgreens that their class had grown.

My hopes for the future of the LEEF program are that we continue to find innovative and empowering ways to meet students where they are at. I hope to use this pathway to reinvigorate a love of learning in students who feel that they don’t fit perfectly into the current education paradigm, and to further encourage those who have already found their passions in life. I truly believe in this program and believe that it is an environment any student can feel successful and empowered in.

LEEF Pathway classes at Edison High School:

• LEEF Biology

• LEEF Chemistry

• LEEF Physics

• EASYpro

• Art and the Environment

• Special Education: DCD collaboration

• EEA (Edison Entrepreneurship Academy)

• Global Communities

• Career Readiness

• Work-Based Learning

• Credit Recovery

• EHS Green Team

Building a Growth Mindset at Best Academy Middle School

The following blog post was written by Andi Twiss, Spark-Y Sustainability Educator, on our school partnership with Best Academy Middle School.

Spring semester just started up at Best Academy Middle School and students are happily back in the classroom and reluctantly recalling what was learned during the previous semester. As the primary classroom teacher of these 120 students, we have learned so much already and there is so much more to learn.

The 2019-2020 school year is the first year Best Academy Middle School (BAMS) has partnered with Spark-Y and it has been a partnership of growth and opportunity. That is one of the primary themes reinforced to scholars at BAMS in each of their classrooms: a growth mindset. Throughout the hallways you'll find posters reminding students to be aware of a closed mindset and push towards a growth mindset. It's no different for us at Spark-Y.

Programming is a little different here at BAMS than with other Spark-Y school partners. Traditionally, a Sustainability Educator like myself would partner with teachers in an existing school classroom. Here at BAMS though, I am a primary resource for science education and operate closer to a traditional classroom teacher. I get to teach these scholars each and every day and Spark-Y gets to be the primary resource for their science education. This has been a partnership of growth in expanding our curriculum, scope, and depth in Life Science and Earth Science themes, and an opportunity to serve new students, enable, empower, and resource a new school, and work our Spark-Y magic in a new framework.

As the primary resource, I get to build each lesson around the holistic, sustainable systems design we employ. Instead of fitting our hands-on entrepreneurial-driven activities as a supplement in a traditional classroom setting, we get to build the curriculum around a Spark-Y experience.

One example of how we have built (I mean, literally, built) a robust Spark-Y classroom experience, is 7th grade scholars have built their aquaponics system! They have plumbed it, water is in the tank, and we are planning on fish this month! They submitted designs analyzing the classroom space, put thought in how to incorporate grow bed space for each class period, and excitedly counted down the days until they could get their hands on a chop saw! This final product will be the backdrop for lessons on ecosystem health, population analysis, and even introduction to animal anatomy. They are also hypothesizing ways to sustainably decorate the design and leave their mark as the class of 2021 that built it for all future classes to benefit from.

As for 8th grade, they will be spending the spring semester designing, budgeting, planning, and building raised garden beds for their school. This work will be done alongside their lessons of atmosphere and weather and reinforce the lessons learned on water cycle, erosion and deposition, and soil fertility. The efforts these 7th and 8th graders undertake will provide a permanent staples of a green campus for future scholars at Best Academy and I am so appreciative of their enthusiasm and drive they show knowing they are making a classroom resource. They take great pride in their work and I am thankful for it.

My scholars set New Year resolutions and goals for this semester. Some academic and some personal. Most pertaining to passing classes, turning in work, staying out of detention (although one included "growing taller"). I look forward to next year's group of scholars whose goals will focus on 'mastering material through brand new methods', 'pushing scientific inquiry both inside and outside the classroom', and 'leading investigative studies using the systems developed by students that came before me'.

The growth mindset being instilled in scholars is a great initiative. This mentality paired with Spark-Y's sustainable and entrepreneurial resources has huge potential to fundamentally change science curriculum in this middle school.

This initial year is setting amazing groundwork of a robust curriculum that sustains the entire academic year, going well above-and-beyond state standards. 2020 is off to a great start and I look forward to normalizing this method of teaching and securing future partnerships to the benefit of even more scholars.

To those of you who don't get the privilege of walking the halls of a middle school each day and witness the growth I get to witness, I'll share with you the words from one of the growth mindset posters that serve to remind students that are constantly pushing the bounds of their minds: “Change ‘I just can't do it' to ‘I just can't do it, yet.’''

Why Sustainable Education Is Crucial for the Next Generation

The following blog post was contributed by
established education blogger, Alyssa Abel.

In today’s changing environmental climate, society needs eco-innovation and a sustainable focus more than ever before. Social movements and innovative initiatives are one way to push environmentalism to the forefront of our world, but we have an even better tool at our fingertips — teaching students how to live sustainably.

Today’s educators have a crucial responsibility in terms of sustainability education. It’s essential to raise the next generation into eco-conscious, self-sufficient world citizens who understand the immediacy of environmental responsibility. Youth programs like Spark-Y are embracing hands-on environmental education — and more need to follow.

Sustainability education encompasses all school subjects and extends far beyond the classroom. It gives students real-world skills they can use to improve the planet. It provides today’s children with the self-sufficiency they need for tomorrow. It offers them a deeply engraved understanding of why the environment is important.

Here’s what sustainability education teaches students — and why educational environments should make it a priority.

1. Interdependence Between Humans and the Environment

The environment provides our nourishment, sustenance and shelter, giving us everything we need to survive — and yet its part in human lives is increasingly ignored.

Trees provide lumber, food sources and oxygen, and they support various ecosystems in addition to humans. The water cycle would fall to disruption without them, causing extremes like droughts and massive flooding. And yet forests have declined by 32% since the rise of the industrial era, with 15 billion cut down every year. Deforestation also accounts for 13% of global fossil fuel emissions.

The ocean also makes our survival possible by regulating weather patterns and producing more than 50% of our planet's oxygen. But it has become increasingly polluted with plastic, oil and toxins, killing off the marine life keeping the world afloat.

While modern society too often strays from nature, humanity and the environment are inextricably intertwined — and to prevent further carelessness and damage to our ecosystem, it’s important to show students that. Teaching theoretical environmental science might be a start, but giving children the chance to experience the concept firsthand is infinitely more effective.

Through sustainability programs like Spark-Y’s Urban Agriculture Lab and school partnership programs, students have the hands-on opportunity to explore how humans and the environment sustain each other. Operations Director Caitlin Barnhart explains how working directly with an edible garden space allows youth to “harvest produce, explore the edible landscape, and often have their very first experience with home-grown food.” This kind of firsthand experience allows students to make a physical, profound connection between the environment and their way of life.

Barnhart with her 2019 Summer Interns

2. The Balance Between Environment and Society

Teaching adolescents how to identify environmentally friendly companies — and develop their own sustainable business endeavors — can lead to a more eco-friendly societal future. Consumers of decades past often didn't know how business and production affected the Earth, but that's changing fast.

Sustainability affects the economy as much as it does ecosystems. In turn, modern society has a marked impact on the environment. When it comes to building a better, greener future, business practices are the place to start — which makes sustainability-focused business education like Spark-Y’s LEEF classes (Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Environment, Future) especially important.

Spark-Y Lead Educator, Sarah Pilato

As sustainability educator Sarah Pilato says, hands-on environmental education encourages students to “explore the real world…outside of their classroom and how they as individuals can have an impact on it.” Programs like these teach current students and future leaders the three pillars of ESG — environment, society and governance — so they learn how to balance and approach them in their own futures.

Already, millennial and generation Z consumers are more willing to spend on eco-friendly products. Three-quarters of millennials have changed their buying habits, looking for sustainable products to support the environment. By offering current youth the opportunity to develop an understanding of sustainable entrepreneurial and agricultural practices, educators can make the upcoming generation even more eco-actionable.

3. Sustainable Life Skills

Environmental programs like agriculture labs and sustainable projects encourage students to re-think their relationship with the environment and develop eco-friendly skills and habits for their futures. Kids will learn to grow their own food, conserve resources and choose sustainable products — but early sustainable education can also have a profound impact on their life pathways.

Many colleges are now offering sustainability degrees and majors in related fields. Students who pursue green majors seek careers as biologists, environmental scientists, researchers and much more. Agriculture, energy and manufacturing are popular fields for sustainability, as they are always looking to integrate eco-friendly processes. Giving kids a head start with early sustainable education will do more than instill sustainable life skills — it may also help prepare them for successful careers.

With an interest and career path in environmental studies, students can open green businesses, join eco-friendly companies or influence existing organizations to revise their current strategies. Sustainable initiatives like Spark-Y’s project-based internships develop leadership abilities, stress the value in collaboration, enhance communication skills and drive sustainable thinking — potentially inspiring students to pursue sustainable careers of their own.

Images: Spark-Y Microgreens grown by youth for sale to local co-ops, restaurants and CSAs. Youth designed and built the timber-frame aqauponic growing tower.

4. Respect for the Planet

Earth is the only home the next generation has — and learning more about it is essential to keeping it alive.

Respect for our planet means learning its history, functions and what it needs to prosper. What children learn in school shapes them for the rest of their lives. Starting early with sustainable education teaches kids why the environment is important, how it should be treated, and how they play a crucial role in the future of its existence.

Increased respect for the planet means less littering, polluting and wasting of resources. It means more sustainable habits and efforts to conserve resources. More than anything, it means a mindset rooted in commitments to environmental change — a mindset that is cultivated and solidified early on.

5. Future Preparation and Adaptation

Today's planet won't be the same only decades from now. Predictions don’t bode well, but education can both prepare students for future changes and give them the tools to prevent further damage. If teachers, professors and parents educate their students now, we'll give them the ability to survive in an unknown future landscape. More importantly, today’s students may go on to become future scientists, researchers and activists who will work to protect our resources.

Environmental education equips students to navigate a changing environment with the proper knowledge of self-sufficiency, science and conservation.

Creating a Better Future

Before their involvement in a Spark-Y program, only 41% of students believed they had the power to affect change. After their experiences with hands-on environmental education, 94% believed they could change the world. Wouldn’t it be something to see that initiative reflected in schools and programs across the nation?

The world is changing — and with it, we need to change our approach to the world. By emphasizing environmental themes and sustainability education in schools, we can do more than give the next generation the tools they need to take on environmental change — we can give them a better future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alyssa Abel is an established education blogger with a special interest in new learning methodologies. Read more of her work for students and educators of all levels on Syllabusy.

A Day in the Life at the Columbia Heights After School Aquaponics Program

The following blog post was written by Nicholas Lockert, Spark-Y Sustainability Educator, on our after school program with Columbia Heights.

The after school program at Columbia Heights High School is one that is entirely different than any other program I personally have been a part of since working with Spark-Y. This program, named “Aquaponics” by the students who participate in the program, takes place once a week for two hours and has around 12-15 participants every week. Some of these students have been apart of this program since the ‘17-’18 and ‘18-’19 school years and have returned this year with just as much excitement and enthusiasm as the years before. Other students who are new to the program have joined due to word of mouth from those who participated before. What draws these students to join such a program like ours? The aquaponics and hands-on learning always stand out as potential answers to this question and I believe there is a large amount of validity with those answers. However, I think the real answer to this question is the autonomy that we give the students in this program.

When I walk into the classroom where we house our aquaponics after school program, I’m greeted by our kids enjoying their afternoon snack and playing video games together on a variety of devices. A large majority of our students are a tight-knit group who have a love for learning and playing video games with their friends. Once both snacks and games are finished, we get started. We have an introductory lesson or game to warm things up before we go over our plan for the day, what projects we want to complete, and what maintenance needs to be done on our aquaponics system. Following the introduction for the day, the students break themselves up into different groups to take on the tasks they need to complete.

Day to day tasks that the students complete are varied. They include inspecting the aquaponic system to make sure everything is running properly, testing the water within the system to ensure our fish aren’t going to get sick and the plants are getting the optimal amount of nutrients they need, feeding the fish, and checking on our vermicompost system to see if our worms need anymore food. Many times the students will switch up what they work on each week so they can get a feel for what kind of work goes into each task. Allowing them to divvy up the tasks amongst themselves is important in my eyes because they enjoy the freedom to choose what job they do each week instead of being assigned a job. They will be more likely to complete that task in a more timely fashion and the quality of the job will most likely be higher too. Better quality work being put towards the system tasks allows for higher quality produce coming from our system.

After completion of the normal weekly tasks, we will usually reconvene to discuss or work on our next long-term project. In the past, these projects included building the classroom’s aquaponic system and building a new door for the garden shed. This year, we have a few projects in mind.

1. Our current ongoing project is to grow produce for an afterschool cooking class that takes place at CHHS on Tuesdays. This class is facilitated by Wes Nugteren, who also takes care of the school garden. We have the ability to provide him with fresh produce throughout the entire school year with our aquaponic system and we want to take full advantage of this opportunity. The students selected all of the produce themselves and plan to pitch their product to Wes to work on their entrepreneurial skills.

2. Wes has tasked our group with building a set of squirrel-proof bird feeders for the garden. The garden is very luscious and provides a wide variety of produce throughout the year. However, we all know about the pests that tend to wreak havoc on gardens each year. Insects love to ruin our hard work in our gardens by destroying our beautiful plants. Wes has come up with a potential solution to this problem for the CHHS garden. Building bird feeders to attract specific bird species that are insectivores (species that eat insects as their main source of food) can decrease the pest population in our garden. Fewer pests means happier plants.

3. Staying with the garden theme, one of the raised herb beds in the garden is rotting and falling apart. Our students get the opportunity to design and construct a new raised bed to replace the damaged one.

4. After having a meeting with Spark-Y’s lead sustainability educator, Sarah Pilato, and talking to her about the CHHS program, she came up with an ingenious idea. Our students love their video games and building computers as stated earlier. Why not task them with creating their own video game based upon aquaponics? Whether its teaching players how aquaponics works, encouraging players to get the highest score by growing the most produce, or strategising on how to defeat enemy bugs to keep the aquaponic kingdom safe, the students will get to develop some form of game that can be used by many other kids to learn about aquaponics in a fun, interactive way.

One thing you might notice about all of these projects is that there is a large area where the students can be creative and run with them however they want. Student autonomy is one of the main goals we have with this program. We give them ideas for projects they can take on, then they do the rest. To help keep the students engaged and ultimately feel more empowered, we let them call (most of) the shots. I asked the students if it was important to them to be autonomous in this program and these are some of the responses I received:

Ifrah: “Yes! It allows us to demonstrate leadership skills at a younger age, which can help us down the road. We can also explore a new passion on our own terms.”

George: “Yes, because its more engaging and interactive than a normal classroom experience.”

Simon: “I think it is important. It is good to be on our own and work as a team. It teaches us and prepares us for the future to finish our work whether we are in college or working a job.”

Hector: “Yes. Leaders arise within the program.” “We are more engaged and bring out our own ideas. We also have the chance to learn from our mistakes.”

Before we know it, it is 5:30pm and we are done for the day. We clean up the classroom, say our goodbyes, and head home already thinking about what we get to work on next week.