Wilton Youth Services, the Wilton Garden Club, and Trackside Teen Center have joined forces to launch a new gardening program for middle schoolers called Green Teens. The goals of the program are to get more young people involved with creating and maintaining vegetable gardens, to teach youth about the importance of healthy foods, and to give back to the community as the produce they grow will be donated to the Wilton Food Pantry.
Green Teens will be open to youth in grades 5-8. Led by experienced gardeners from the Wilton Garden Club, youth will participate in hands-on activities of designing garden beds, planting, maintaining, harvesting as well as learning how to cook with the produce grown in their gardens. The program will meet at the gardens at Trackside on Wednesdays from 3:30-5 p.m. starting May 6 and running through June 10.
“We are excited to offer this new gardening program for middle schoolers at Trackside and are thankful for the support of our community partners. Youth will experience the joys of growing, cooking, and eating fresh foods as well as the benefits of giving some of what they grow to those in need,” said Sarah Gioffre, the program coordinator.
Wilton Youth Services director, Colleen Fawcett secured a grant from the State Department of Education for Youth Services Enhancement which is being used to fund Green Teens. As program coordinator, Gioffre will work with Ann Collis and Pam Nobumoto of the Wilton Garden Club. The program is being supported by Jim Hunter of the Wilton High School Organic Garden and Jonathan Kirschner of Ambler Farm–both organizations will be donating seedlings to the program. Boy Scout Troop 20 will also be organizing the design, construction and installation of additional raised beds and a tool shed.
The effort will also be a great collaboration between teens and adults, as evidenced by the enthusiasm Nan Merolla of the Wilton Garden Club has for the project. “We love Green Teens! The Wilton Garden Club is tremendously excited to be involved; we have a wealth of knowledge to share and can’ t wait to get digging with Green Teens. “
The Neighborhood Garden at Trackside was originally built by Girl Scout Karina Olsen (pictured above) for her Girl Scout Gold Award project in 2011. She and other Wilton High School students have grown vegetables and flowers at the garden over the past few years for the Wilton Food Pantry.
There will also be an opportunity for families and friends to work the gardens over the summer months. This will be a community service project for youth to earn service hours. There is no charge for the program. For more information on the program, please visit www.trackside.org. To register for the program, please contact Sarah Gioffre of Wilton Youth Services at gioffres@optonline.net or (203) 834-6241.
For more information about the program, please contact Gioffre at Wilton Youth Services at 203.834.6241.
