Growing School Gardens

– For Good!

For over 15 years, we’ve been working with schools to get kids outside and into gardens where they can foster a connection to food by learning to grow, cook, and prepare healthy foods.

We are dedicated to supporting Cumberland County area schools to integrate garden and food-based programming – we have a number of models, resources, and training to support this integration. The curriculum and resources we develop aid students in building connections to the local food systems and climate in Maine.

Our partnerships are focused on capturing students’ natural curiosity for the outside world while encouraging them to become environmental stewards in the ever-changing world around them.

Our Offerings Include…

  • Garden Coordinator and Coach models for garden upkeep, maintenance, and uses.
  • Teacher support models for garden integration in school day and curriculum.

We offer professional development trainings for educators on the following subjects:

  • Garden and food science-based curriculum sequencing.
  • Next Generation Science Standard Bin project for beginning integration of garden and outdoor learning into classroom curriculum.
  • Best practices and inclusion practices in food, nutrition, and garden-based curriculums.
  • Monthly and yearly garden maintenance and upkeep models.

We offer a year-long garden and food science-based curriculum that is standard aligned.

We provide your classroom with a Cultivating Community staff member as a guest teacher who specializes in topic areas such as food systems, food and land justice, gardening, food insecurity, and more. Send an inquiry if you’re looking for singular lessons to support classroom curricula or learning.

We offer in-person field trips and enrichment activities at two of our farming and gardening locations around topics such as food justice, ecological farming, bee and pollinator habitats, and more. Students and school groups can visit Hurricane Valley Farm in Falmouth, ME or Boyd Street Urban Garden in Portland, ME to further their learning.

43% of Maine students rely on school meals every day.

We’ve partnered with FoodCorps in the Portland Public Schools (PPS) district, where we worked with PPS Central Kitchen and district food service staff to improve students’ relationship with school food. We believe that sharing new foods with students helps them make healthier life choices in the future.

10 years of nutrition advocacy in schools

We strive to better address food insecurity by providing school meals that everyone can eat and enjoy.

Every month, we held taste tests as a part of the Harvest of the Month program at Portland elementary schools. With Cumberland County Food Security Council (CCFSC) and high school students, we built and implemented culturally relevant menu items to help school cafeterias better reflect students’ diverse cultural backgrounds.

In partnership with CCFSC and FoodCorps, we’ve convened a Halal School Meals Network that includes representatives from Portland, South Portland, and Westbrook school districts and communities. To learn how school menus can cater to students’ needs, we assembled a focus group of Muslim families and community leaders.

This program is made possible through community partnerships!

Contact for Inquiries

For all inquiries and questions about our schools partnership program, contact Lilly Kendall, our Schools Program Manager, at lkendall@cultivatingcommunity.org