Grow For You Inc. School Program

​

Facilitators

Eric Dionne -  System designer and hydroponics specialist

Kate Mooney - Social worker with a special interest in community

                            led food security initiatives.

 

Kate and Eric are the co-founders of Grow for You Inc. They share a

passion for people, community, and knowledge sharing. Both are skilled

group facilitators with all ages. Programming can be delivered in English or French.

                             

Program Overview:

The Grow for You Inc. school program is aimed at promoting gardening to grow and share food as well as introducing young people to the numerous benefits and approaches to gardening. Our priority is generating excitement, supporting student led initiatives and fostering attitudes of wellbeing, collective good and competency among staff and students alike.

​

At Grow for You Inc. our area of emphasis is hydroponics as it allows year-round indoor growing, addresses most challenges faced in traditional agriculture and can be customized to suit the physical needs of all would be gardeners. However, we encourage all forms of gardening and seek to connect young people to their own values and a deeper understanding of food systems.

​

Previous collaboration with schools has resulted in:

• Air quality experiments and improvement

• Food production for school use

• Food production for food bank donations

• Cultivation of plants for gifting during special events

• Student led experiments in aquaponics, magnetism and cultivating strawberries

• New relationships between Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut based schools for knowledge sharing and collaboration

 

Educators seeking ways to bring food literacy, holistic well-being and agricultural knowledge into the school culture will find this program highly valuable.

 

Schools or school groups looking to begin a garden project are encouraged to use this program as part of their development and implementation process.

 

Key words:  experiential learning, community, collective action, empowerment, health, embodiment, sustainability, sharing, food, nutrition.

 

Age range:

Programming can be adjusted to the needs of all age groups and grades. We happily collaborate with educators to create the best module for your program goals.

​

Where might a conversation about food systems, gardening fit in the school curriculum?

https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/sci-tech-key-changes

 

There are quite a number of opportunities to align gardening, aeroponics, hydroponics, food provision and community/mutual aid discussions with the current Ontario Curriculum, particularly given the recently announced 2022 amendments.

​

Science & Technology, Life Systems, Matter & Energy

• Ecology, needs of living organisms, agriculture, sustainability

• Interconnectedness with the natural world, nutrition, active living

Structures & Mechanisms

• Simple machines

• Form, function & design

• Structures in action

• Innovation, design and problem-solving