Green Magnet Academy

Est. 2025
Garden Liaison: Sandy Morris
Spaces Supported: Vegetable Garden, Native Landscaping
Student Engagement: Daytime Curricular Enrichment, Garden Recess

Green Magnet Academy has a number of spaces to engage with students in the outdoors. When the YGEP first connected to GMA, it was through Ms. Vivian Williams’ AgriScouts Garden, an afterschool club jointly administered through the Cub Scouts Program and National Women in Agriculture Association. The YGEP first supported her efforts via personnel support during club time and has since transitioned to supporting with materials and extra labor.

In the Spring of 2025, the YGEP was asked to steward the Playground Garden, a set of six raised beds dedicated to each grade level. All GMA students had the opportunity to participate in the creation of that space via daytime curricular enrichment, from making vegetable signs to planting seeds to designing a native mini-ecosystem that would support vegetable crops. Now, students have the opportunity to participate in the regular maintenance of that space via a weekly “Garden Recess” – the option to spend their recess time in the garden. The YGEP has also developed a strong partnership with the GMA Library, led by Mr. Mason VanHorn, where YGEP staff lead 3rd grade library students on a yearlong outdoor empathy study, broken up into three to four enrichment units. Finally, the YGEP offers general curricular enrichment to all grade levels, seeking to lower the barriers for students to engage with the outdoors during their typical school day.