Summer Green Team

The Summer Green Team is a free program hosted at CitySprouts garden sites across Boston and Cambridge each year. It is designed for middle grade students and provides opportunities to learn gardening, cooking, and leadership skills while working and spending time outdoors. Youth learn to be leaders and stewards in their community through a combination of garden work, STEAM-focused projects, and field trips to green spaces within their community. By working on local urban gardens and meeting with community leaders, the program aims to provide youth the opportunity to identify issues they are passionate about and envision an endless array of possibilities for their future.

Questions? Email Alex Frank at afrank@citysprouts.org

Applications for Summer of 2026 will become available in February of 2026.

 
 

2025 Summer Green Team and Their Sites

BOSTON

Orchard Gardens K-8 School

Phil and Wes

CAMBRIDGE

Putnam Avenue Upper School

Nicki and Simone

CAMBRIDGE

Cambridge Street Upper School

Catie and Kalyani


Read about previous programming here.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • We review applications on a rolling basis beginning on April 1. If your youth is accepted into the program you will receive an email asking you to confirm the details of your application. A youth will not be registered for the program until you confirm their intent to attend. This helps us ensure that we are able to fill all the slots we have available.

  • As a tuition-free program the Green Team relies heavily on grants and donations for funding. By providing demographic information like household income and ethnicity we can paint a better picture of the communities we are serving when applying for funding. Responding to these questions is completely voluntary, and your response does not impact your youth’s eligibility.

  • While gardening is a big focus of the program, Green Team groups do a wide variety of activities every day. We take extra care to work in the garden in the mornings when temperatures are lowest, and all staff are trained to identify and treat any symptoms of heat exhaustion. We have classrooms reserved inside to escape the heat and will have crafts, experiments, and cooking activities that all relate back to the garden.

  • As a tuition-free program the Green Team holds a strict 75% attendance policy to ensure the youth involved participate fully. If you have concerns about your ability to meet that attendance policy please reach out directly to Alex Frank at afrank@citysprouts.org. Failure to meet the attendance policy may result in removal from the program and forfeiture of the stipend.

  • The Green Team partners with Food Services at Cambridge and Boston Public Schools, so the meals are determined by them. If you have dietary restrictions or concerns please be sure to inform us ahead of time so we can make arrangements to ensure your youth’s needs are met.

  • Field trips vary year-to-year. We take extra care to ensure that our trips focus on learning about and connecting with green spaces and communities throughout Boston and Cambridge. To get an idea about what kinds of trips we go on, check out last year’s summer recap.