Progress 09/01/24 to 08/31/25
Outputs
Target Audience:School aged children (Primarily 4th grade) will be directly involved throughout the grant period. Parents and guardians of target youth will be directly involved in activities of the grant period. School teachers and site coordinators of target locations will be incorporated to support grant activities, and continuation of programs after the grant period has ended. Community members and leaders will be made aware of grant activities, as well as invited to programs to assist and support during the grant period. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has contributed to school staff professional development. Teachers and administrators at Harmony School of Excellence and Lackland Airforce Base were educated on gardening best practices and provided with resources on how to manage school/youth gardens. We hope to encourage teachers and administrators, as well as the broadercommunity, to enroll in upcoming Master Gardener training courses that serve as further professional development. Other volunteer-led trainings may be offered to this group in the future. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results and activities from the CYFAR garden-based youth development program have been shared with key communities of interest through a variety of outreach and communication efforts. Notably, over 600 youth and school educators were introduced to the garden project during a Carrer Connections day event at Harmony School of Excellence, where they participated in guided garden observations and learned about agriculture- and food-related careers. This exposure provided a valuable opportunity to highlight the program's goals, activities, and potential career pathways in horticulture, environmental science, and nutrition. In addition to in-person engagement, program highlights have been featured in Texas A&M AgriLife Extension's "Extension in the City" newsletter, which reaches a broad audience of educators, community stakeholders, and urban Extension professionals across Texas. These features have helped raise awareness of the program's impact in both Harris and Bexar Counties. Educator feedback and youth reflections from the garden sessions have also been shared internally through staff meetings and program reports to promote knowledge exchange and program visibility. Together, these dissemination strategies support broader community understanding of CYFAR's goals and outcomes and build momentum for continued involvement and support. A piloted form of dissemination has been utilizing a communication app, which informed parents of the participants of the in-school activities, through the use of photos and text updates. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? During the next reporting period, we will implement the developed "Science Wings Through 4-H" curriculum during the fall and spring garden-based youth development cycle at both Harris and Bexar County sites. Core activities will remain consistent across all six sites--three in each county--to ensure alignment with the CYFAR model and the original proposal timeline. We will grow our reach by increasing participation from 15 to 20 youth per site perprogramming semesterand involving 15 parents per site per semester. Over the course of two programming cycles,we willengage approximately 240 youth and 180 parents across all program sites. Each site will hold weekly garden-based learning sessions using the adapted Learn, Grow, Eat & Go! (LGEG) curriculum, along with family engagement events. These sessions will continue to emphasize hands-on, experiential learning focused on healthy living, environmental literacy, and youth leadership. Shared activities across all sites will include planting seasonal crops, pollinator education, composting, and rainwater harvesting. The curriculum will also integrate STEM, literacy, and art components to support academic growth. Returning youth will be invited to serve as peer mentors and assist in leading garden activities, helping to strengthen leadership and ownership. In addition to shared programming, site-specific efforts will reflect the unique needs of each community. In Harris County, we will expand collaboration with school staff to integrate garden learning into classroom instruction and provide workshops that engage families more deeply. In Bexar County, we will coordinate with military youth centers to align programming with their schedules and provide parent-child garden activities that reflect the needs of military-connected families. Evaluation will continue across all sites using CYFAR Common Measures and educator feedback to guide continuous improvement. We will also continue todevelop and distribute Garden Club Guides to help staff and volunteers deliver consistent programming and support year-round garden use. These efforts will allow us to scale impact, promote sustainability, and continue working toward our goals of building youth confidence, family engagement, environmental awareness, and healthier communities through garden-based education.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In Bexar and Harris County the CYFAR garden-based youth development program entered its Planning and lesson Pilot year with, with10-16 consecutive weeks of youth and family engagement in hands-on, experiential learning for Spring 2025. A total of 32 youth participated in the pilot program during the Spring semester across Harris and Bexar Counties. The following accomplishments align with project goals related to community garden sustainability, health and nutrition education, youth skill development, and environmental stewardship. Program Implementation & Engagement Youth and parents collaboratively participated in garden construction, including the building and maintenance of raised beds. Weekly garden-based learning sessions were delivered at Harmony School of Excellence (Harris) and Lackland Air force Base (Bexar), incorporating curriculum from Learn, Grow, Eat & Go! (LGEG) and tailored enrichment activities. Nutrition & Culinary Skills Youth participated in multiple food demonstration and tasting activities designed to reinforce healthy eating habits and increase exposure to fresh herbs and vegetables. Recipes included Tea Thyme, Refreshing Rosemary, Tomato and Cilantro Salad, and Cinnamon Carrot Crunch. These activities integrated sensory exploration, basic food prep skills, and nutrition messaging aligned with USDA dietary goals. Science & Observation Skills Students conducted garden walks, tracked plant growth (e.g., tomato development), and explored herb characteristics through touch and smell. Real-time pest identification activities, such as observing a hornworm, provided opportunities to discuss integrated pest management (IPM), garden ecology, and sustainability. Academic Skill-Building & Evaluation Indoor sessions (due to inclement weather) featured research and creative activities from the LGEG curriculum, such as poster-based vegetable research. Environmental Stewardship & Pollinator Education Garden learning was extended through activities such as beneficial insect identification, seed collection (e.g., marigold), and planting of Texas native flowers to support pollinators and long-term ecological health of the garden. Leadership & Reflection Youth created wellness tokens using natural materials and air-dry clay as a reflective art activity. This session allowed for creative expression and reflection on personal growth, reinforcing socio-emotional learning and connection to nature. Sustainability Measures Garden beds specifically selected for durability, ease of use, and fitted with drip-irrigation to support long term gardening availability with the community site locations. beds were labeled for ease of future instruction, and resources like lifecycle fact sheets were added to the Garden Club Guide to build site-based knowledge infrastructure. Educator feedback highlighted high levels of student engagement and the effectiveness of hands-on instruction.
Publications
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