New York Sun Works

New York Sun Works, founded in 2004, is a non-profit organization that uses hydroponic farming technology to educate students and teachers about the science of sustainability. To further this goal, NY Sun Works created the Greenhouse Project,[1] an initiative dedicated to improving K through 12 grade[2] environmental science education through the lens of urban agriculture, empowering children to make educated choices about their impact on the environment. The Greenhouse Project was inspired by NY Sun Works’ first project, the renowned Science Barge; a prototype, sustainable urban farm and environmental education center previously housed on the Hudson River and now located in Yonkers under different ownership.[3]

Partnerships

As of October 2015, NY Sun Works has 26 partner schools with completed Greenhouse Classrooms and 30 more in development,[4](October 2015)[5] well on their way to the goal of 100 labs by 2020.[6]

NY Sun Works partner schools with completed greenhouse classrooms in the greater NYC area include:

  • The Manhattan School for Children P.S. 333;[1]
  • The Computer School M.S. 245;[7]
  • P.S. 89 Cypress Hills;[8]
  • P.S. 84 Jose de Diego;[9]
  • P.S. 208 Alain L. Locke;[10]
  • P.S. 147 Isaac Remsen;[11]
  • P.S. 6 Lillie D. Blake;[12]
  • P.S. 165 Ida R.Posner;[8]
  • P.S. 41 Francis White;[13]
  • J.H.S 50 John D. Wells; East Harlem School at Exodus House;[14]
  • Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School;[15]
  • Williamsburg Preparatory High School;[16]
  • P.S. 50 Vito Marcantonio;
  • P.S. 150 Tribeca Learning Center;[17]
  • P.S. 376 Felisa Rincon de Gautier School of Technology;
  • Urban Assembly School for Green Careers;
  • County Prep High School;[18]
  • P.S. 21 The Margaret P. Emery Elm Park School.[19]

NY Sun Works have partnered with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams who announced a $2 million investment in 12 NYSW labs in underserved Brooklyn Communities for fiscal year 2016.

NY Sun Works is also a committed Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America Commitment to Action partner for the Grow A Lot project which will build greenhouses on vacant lots in areas needing greater access to fresh food. A model for future projects, the first greenhouse will be built in East New York, Brooklyn and incorporate NY Sun Works’ classroom layout and "Discovering Sustainability Science" curriculum, enabling hands-on STEM learning for area schools and community members.[6]

The nonprofit Students for Service has partnered with Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School and NY Sun Works to teach nutrition and distribute food grown in the Greenhouse Classroom to students and neighborhood families.[15]

The Harvard Business School Club of New York recently partnered with NY Sun Works under HBSCNY’s Community Partners program. Assisting with an assessment of potential NY Sun Works partnerships, the team of Community Partners volunteers prepared a set of key recommendations on growth alternatives.[20]

The Greenhouse Project

The Greenhouse Project[1] was created in 2008 to increase K – 8th grade students’ interest and proficiency in STEM education while understanding the environmental issues of their time: global climate change, efficient use of water and energy, building greener cities, and growing a secure and healthy food supply.[21] The Greenhouse Project initiative uses urban agriculture technology to provide an ideal hands-on learning facility paired with a project-based, integrated curriculum.[22]

A greenhouse project classroom can be built as a traditional greenhouse or in a converted classroom to accommodate a hydroponic urban farm and environmental science laboratory. Grade school children grow food while engaging in hands-on learning about nutrition, water resource management, efficient land use, climate change, biodiversity, conservation, contamination, pollution, waste management, and sustainable development. To facilitate this hands-on learning environment, the Greenhouse Project classroom typically includes Nutrient film technique hydroponic growing systems, Dutch-Bucket systems, Vertical Integrated Growing systems, an aquaponics or fish farm tank, a Rainwater harvesting system, a vermi-composting corner, and a weather station.[23]

Achievements

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kerri MacDonald, "On a School Rooftop, Hydroponic Greens for Little Gardeners," New York Times, Nov. 22, 2010 (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/on-a-school-rooftop-hydroponic-greens-for-little-gardeners/?ref=nyregion&_r=0).
  2. ↑ Clean Plates, Schoolhouse Rocks: The Greenhouse Project, http://nyc.cleanplates.com/news/greenhouse-project/#.VS6YrvnF_bw (April 15, 2015).
  3. 1 2 Groundwork Hudson Valley, FAQs, http://www.groundworkhv.org/programs/science-barge/faqs/ (April 15, 2015).
  4. 1 2 http://urbanagnews.com/emag/issue-11/
  5. ↑ Sophie Shrem, Yard Members, New York Sun Works, Get Ready to Host 7th Annual Greenhouse Project Benefit, The Yard, http://workattheyard.com/yard-members-new-york-sun-works-get-ready-to-host-7th-annual-greenhouse-project-benefit/ (April 15, 2015).
  6. 1 2 Janeen Wright, NY SunWorks’ Greenhouse Project Aims To Build 100 Labs By 2020, Greenhouse Grower: Business Management, http://www.greenhousegrower.com/structures-equipment/ny-sunworks-greenhouse-project-aims-to-build-100-labs-by-2020/ (April 15, 2015)
  7. ↑ Emily Frost, The Computer School’s Hydroponic Lab Takes Root with Bountiful Vegetables, DNAinfo, http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130215/upper-west-side/computer-schools-hydroponic-lab-takes-root-with-bountiful-vegetables (April 15, 2015).
  8. 1 2 Robin Plaskoff Horton, New York City Public School’s Rooftop Hydroponic Garden and Urban Farm Classroom, Urban Gardens, http://www.urbangardensweb.com/2011/11/16/nyc-classroom-in-an-urban-rooftop-farm/ (April 3, 2015).
  9. ↑ Tanay Warerkar, Brooklyn’s First Rooftop Garden Classroom Breaks Ground, The Greenpoint Gazette http://www.greenpointnews.com/news/6590/brooklyn-s-first-rooftop-garden-classroom-breaks-ground (April 15, 2015).
  10. ↑ United Federation of Teachers, Hydroponic Greenhouse Science Lab Opens at PS 208, Harlem, http://www.uft.org/around-uft/hydroponic-greenhouse-science-lab-opens-ps-208-harlem (April 15, 2015).
  11. ↑ The Greenpoint Gazette, Greenpoint Gazette Guide to District 14 Schools: PS 147 The Isaac Remsen Elementary School, http://www.greenpointnews.com/news/5459/greenpoint-gazette-guide-to-district-14-schools-ps-147-the-isaac-remsen-elementary-school (April 15, 2025).
  12. ↑ Inside Schools, P.S. 6 Lillie D. Blake, http://insideschools.org/component/schools/school/33 (May 22, 2015).
  13. ↑ The Green Schools Alliance, KO41 P.S. 041, http://www.greenschoolsalliance.org/schoolprofile/ps-041-francis-white (April 3, 2015).
  14. ↑ The East Harlem School at Exodus House, Annual Report: 2013-2014, Vol. 22, Winter 2014, http://www.eastharlemschool.org/uploaded/Development_Files/Annual_Report_13-14.pdf (April 15, 2015).
  15. 1 2 Camille Bautista, Student Farmers Grow Fresh Vegetables Year-Round for Bed-Stuy Community, DNAinfo, http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150225/bed-stuy/student-farmers-grow-fresh-vegetables-year-round-for-bed-stuy-community (April 15, 2015).
  16. ↑ Jeff Mann, "New Williamsburg Prep Urban Farming Class Puts Community First," The Greenpoint Gazette, Sept. 24, 2013 (http://www.greenpointnews.com/news/5679/new-williamsburg-prep-urban-farming-class-puts-community-first).
  17. ↑ Bettina Teodoro, There’s a Garden Growing in PS 150, Heard on the Steps…, http://heardonthesteps.org/category/wham/ (April 15, 2015).
  18. ↑ County Prep High School, Hydroponics, http://www.hcstonline.org/cphs/hydroponics.html (April 15, 2015).
  19. ↑ The Green Schools Alliance, RO21 P.S. 21 Margaret Emery-Elm Park, http://www.greenschoolsalliance.org/schoolprofile/ps-21-margaret-emery-elm-park (April 15, 2015).
  20. ↑ Community Partners, Brainstorm To Help Environmental Ed Innovator Grow Urban Farming Labs in K-8 Schools, Harvard Business School Club of New York, http://hbscnycommunitypartners.org/2015/03/31/brainstorm-to-help-environmental-ed-innovator-grow-urban-farming-labs-in-k-8-schools/ (March 31, 2015).
  21. 1 2 Sydney Ember, "Grow Local and Eat Local, City Council Says," New York Times, July 29, 2011 (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/grow-local-and-eat-local-city-council-says/).
  22. 1 2 The Green Apple, Growing New Teaching Methods, WABC, http://wabc.typepad.com/thegreenapple/2011/11/growing-new-teaching-methods.html (March 6, 2015).
  23. ↑ New York Sun Works, Education – the new face of science, http://nysunworks.org/education/ (April 29, 2015).
  24. ↑ Abbie Stutzer, New York Nonprofit Builds On-site Greenhouses in City Schools, Seedstock, http://seedstock.com/2014/03/03/new-york-nonprofit-builds-on-site-greenhouses-in-city-schools/ (April 15, 2015).
  25. ↑ New York Sun Works, Core Curriculum 6-12 grade, http://nysunworks.org/education/the-greenhouse-project-curriculum (April 15, 2015).
  26. ↑ Krista Leahy, PHOTOS: New York Sun Works Plants NYC’s First Public School Greenhouse On Top of P.S. 333, Inhabit NYC, http://inhabitat.com/nyc/photos-new-york-sun-works-plants-nycs-first-public-school-greenhouse-on-top-of-p-s-333/ (April 15, 2015).
  27. ↑ Eve Turow, The Greenhouse Project: NY Sun Works Bringing the Farm to the Classroom, Drive The District, http://www.drivethedistrict.com/2014/10/02/the-greenhouse-projectny-sun-works-bringing-the-farm-to-the-classroom/ (April 15, 2015).
  28. ↑ New York Sun Works, Annual Youth Conference "Discovering Sustainability Science" , http://nysunworks.org/annual-youth-conference (April 15, 2015).
  29. ↑ NY Sun Works Youth Conference @MSC, Program, http://www.nyswyouthconference.org/program/ (April 15, 2015).
  30. ↑ CBS News, "Greenhouse Project Classrooms Give Students Hands On Experience With Conservation" http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/06/12/greenhouse-project-classrooms-give-students-hands-on-experience-with-conservation/#.VXxqDrs9ZYE.twitter (June 2015) .
  31. ↑ "Greenhouse Project Classrooms Give Students Hands On Experience With Conservation" http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/06/12/greenhouse-project-classrooms-give-students-hands-on-experience-with-conservation/#.VXxqDrs9ZYE.twitter (June 2015) .
  32. ↑ PBS, PBS Newshour "Greenhouse labs spur student learning on Manhattan rooftops," March 1, 2014, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/greenhouse-labs-spur-student-learning-manhattan-rooftops-2/ (accessed March 6, 2015).
  33. ↑ CNN, "A Farm On Every Rooftop," http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/international/2011/03/24/ef.genetic.modification.bk.c.cnn.html (May 20, 2013).
  34. ↑ Juli S. Charkes, "Soil-Free Farming, as Practiced on Board," New York Times, November 23, 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/nyregion/westchester/23bargewe.html)
  35. ↑ Sharon Otterman, "Turning Asphalt Into Edible Education," New York Times, October 19, 2010 (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/turning-asphalt-into-edible-education/).
  36. ↑ Natalie Musumeci, "Models to hit fashion runway at Brooklyn Navy Yard dressed in recycled trash," New York Daily News, May 29, 2014 (http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/models-hit-fashion-runway-brooklyn-navy-yard-dressed-recycled-trash-article-1.1810412).
  37. ↑ Jordan Galloway, "Big Town Thinking Green, Growing Young Scientists," New York Daily News, June 11, 2014 (http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/big-town/growing-young-scientists-article-1.1825258).
  38. ↑ Julie Lasky, "MSC Greenhouse Project," Change Observer, January 3, 2011 (http://designobserver.com/feature/msc-greenhouse-project/23418).
  39. ↑ Technology Quarterly: Q4 2010, "Vertical Farming: Does it really stack up?" The Economist, Dec. 9, 2010 (http://www.economist.com/node/17647627).
  40. ↑ Rachel Wharton, It’s Elementary: PS 333’s Rooftop Hydroponic Farm Even Comes with Picnic Tables, Edible Manhattan, http://www.ediblemanhattan.com/topics/farms-foodshed/its-elementary-ps-333s-rooftop-hydroponic-farm-even-comes-with-picnic-tables/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=its-elementary-ps-333s-rooftop-hydroponic-farm-even-comes-with-picnic-tables (May 15, 2015).
  41. ↑ Katherine Watkins, "Up on the Roof," TIME for Kids, Nov. 18, 2011 (http://www.timeforkids.com/news/roof/19576).

External links

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