State Farm Youth Advisory Board funds Outdoor Classrooms in Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture

The Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture (CCUA) has been awarded a $55,320 grant by the State Farm Youth Advisory Board.  Funds will go toward supporting the organization’s Outdoor Classroom Program in working with a strong network of partners to empower PK-12 students to broaden their awareness of environmental issues through the stewardship of outdoor classrooms in the nature areas surrounding their schools.

Students will select focus areas as a group, through guidance from teachers and outdoor classroom committees, by making observations about the systems at work in each outdoor classroom. By conducting research and participating in learning activities, students will develop stewardship projects that improve the health of the urban ecosystems in their outdoor classrooms. CCUA has partnered with outdoor classrooms at 7 area schools, with 3 more in the planning stages.

In celebration of this funding, the CCUA will be hosting an open house and check presentation ceremony at its Urban Farm at 1209 Smith Street on Monday, October 20, from 1 P.M. to 2 P.M.  There will be a collaborative art activity, winterizing of CCUA’s Urban Farm Outdoor Classroom, and some farm snacks. CCUA staff, board, and grant funders from State Farm will be joined by students from Field School’s EEE classes (who will be completing projects in their outdoor classroom and at the Urban Farm in the spring with teacher Holly Tatlow).