This project provides funding to kansas city community gardens (kccg) to design, demonstrate, and disseminate environmental education practices, methods, and techniques in the kansas city area

The Kansas City Community Gardens, Inc. (KCCG) was awarded a $115,734 Project Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 under the Environmental Education Grants Program (CFDA 66.951). The grant will support KCCG's efforts to design and deliver environmental education practices, methods, and techniques focused on orchard care and management to elementary and secondary students in the Kansas City area from September 1, 2022 through August 30, 2024.

Specifically, KCCG will develop teacher activity guides, instructional videos, and training workshops about the environmental benefits of orchards. The organization will also provide subawards to schools for orchard tools and demonstrate their proper use. Students, teachers, and community volunteers will gain hands-on experience maintaining school orchards through tasks such as watering, mulching, pruning and more. The program aims to increase participants' environmental knowledge and understanding of how orchards impact climate change, air and water quality over the long term.

The grantee will engage with elementary and secondary students to learn about how: planting and maintaining trees reduces the heat island effect, consuming local food reduces emissions, and managing with natural horticultural products and methods (such as integrated pest management) eliminates harmful chemical runoff. Activities:kccg will develop and deliver teacher activity guides, instructional videos, and training workshops about the environmental benefits orchards provide. Subrecipient:kccg will provide subawards to schools for high-quality orchard tools to schools in need and show them how to use their new tools. Tools may include: hand pruners, pruning saws, loppers, orchard ladders, backpack sprayers, fruit pole pickers, pole pruners, plastic tree baffles, forks and shovels and wheelbarrows. Teachers, students, and community volunteers will learn hands-on care of school orchards through tasks, such as watering, mulching, blossom pinching, fruit thinning, spraying, and pruning. While participating in these activities, students will learn about topics, including: nutrition, environmental benefits of trees, soil biology, and tree biology. Outcomes:expected deliverable and outcomes include: 1) teachers will be equipped with resources to lead students in experiential environmental learning in the school orchard. 2) students will increase their environmental knowledge by participating in hands-on care of their school orchard. 3) adult volunteers from the school community will increase their environmental knowledge and participate in care of orchard trees. The combined effect of these actions will result in participants understanding their orchard's impact on climate change, air quality, and water quality over the span of many years, leading to more informed choices and actions. Intended beneficiaries include students, teachers, and community members in the kansas city area.