AgriGo4Cities - Community development and Urban Agriculture : a good example from Baltimore

11-12-2017

The Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students (BUGS) Program works with children from under-served Baltimore City communities throughout the year with an after-school program as well as a summer program. The program's primary goal is to empower and inspire children to develop academically, creatively, and socially.

The BUGS program serves students from Commodore John Rodgers Elementary and Middle School in East Baltimore. Many of the students reside in public housing and low-income neighborhoods near the Baltimore City Detention Center. These students have little access to green space and few extra-curricular activities available to them. The program engages youth in learning while providing them with a safe and healthy alternative to the streets.

BUGS is a national model program that uses activities such as cooking, gardening, creative arts and movement, and entrepreneurial projects to help increase academic performance in reading and math and improve student behavior. The program provides a dynamic learning environment at Living Classrooms East Harbor campus, with access to vegetable and flower gardens planted by the students, and the only wetlands on Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The 1:10 instructor/student ratio provides youth with the close attention they need to succeed socially and academically.

Check out more here : https://livingclassrooms.org/ourp_bugs.php

 

Programme co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF, IPA, ENI)