Mark your calendars for Dig It! 2018. Help CitySprouts nurture curiosity in Boston and Cambridge school gardens.

CitySprouts Summer Program is based in Cambridge and provides 100 youth (ages 11-14) with hands-on learning through growing, harvesting, preparing and eating healthy food in an urban garden. With an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the summer program fosters a strong connection to their natural urban environment through working and learning in the garden.

Reporting to the Program Director, the Operations Specialist will provide general operational support to CitySprouts programs, directly supervising Summer Fellowship program and support other staff that reports to the Program Director. The Operations Specialist will be out in the field (at our 23 sites) a majority of the time. The Operations Specialist is a full-time position.

This Fall, I will be helping the CitySprouts team get ready for our Spring fundraiser, Dig It! 2018. I will be working with local businesses in Cambridge and Boston to build a robust silent auction to support the fundraising efforts. Additionally, I will be assisting in implementing a multimedia content plan for CitySprouts. So be sure to look out for us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and in your email!

Week 2 of the CitySprouts middle school program brings the interns and their program staff out into the fields of Gaining Ground Farm in Concord, MA for a morning full of weeding and potato hunting. Gaining Ground, a nonprofit, organic farm which donates 100% of its produce to meal programs and food pantries in the greater Boston area, relies on the people power energy of groups of volunteers to grow their crops and welcomed the energy of the CitySprouts youth on the farm.

This summer, I want to grow down. That is, I want to reconnect with my roots in childhood, inquiry, and natural curiosity. I want to reach deep, deep into the nutrients of the soil and bring them up to the surface; turning my ideas about environmental education into vibrant flowers, fresh leaves, and veggies & maybe even okra, my personal favorite!

This year CitySprouts has designated Bina Venkataraman as our Environmental & Community Impact Award Honoree. Bina is a climate and public health policy leader and writer who has served as Senior Advisor for Climate Change Innovation in the Obama Administration. She currently works as Director of Global Policy Initiatives at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and is a Fellow at New America.

Brielle and Jamie, our current program interns for Spring 2017, share the same passions for holistic wellbeing and the natural environment. They are very eager to start co-teaching in the school gardens and would like to share with us some of the reasons why they love being a part of the CitySprouts team.

Last month, we were thrilled to share that CitySprouts was heading to Massachusetts Horticultural Society's School Garden Conference: Beyond Education. Executive Director Jane Hirschi gave the keynote, while Garden Coordinators Shay Chess and Jack Leng led a workshop, Art, Math, Science & Native Pollinators!?

Nearly everyone at CitySprouts recently went to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s School Garden Conference: Beyond Education on February 23rd. In its third year, the conference featured workshops that explored regional best practices for planning and running a school garden.