NY Sun Works announced that it has been awarded a $25,000 grant by the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to provide high-quality, climate and environmental science education to public school students.
The grant will provide additional resources to implement hydroponic farming technology at each school as well as comprehensive teacher training for science educators.
“We are thrilled and humbled to be the recipient of a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support and enhance NY Sun Works’ mission to teach young people core science that includes learning about the climate and sustainability,” said Manuela Zamora, NY Sun Works Executive Director. “Our hands-on hydroponic farming curriculum and state-of-the-art labs give students the opportunity to experience science through a different lens – one that empowers them to be part of the solution to global challenges.”
“STEM education is a cornerstone of our mission and particularly important in our New York City grantmaking,” says Chris Richardson, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Communications Officer. “We are thrilled to support New York Sun Works and excited to see how their innovative science labs continue to provide transformative educational experiences to students across the five boroughs.”
The one-year grant will reach nearly 1,000 students at PS 171 Peter G. Van Alst in Long Island City, PS/IS 180 The Hugo Newman College Preparatory School in East Harlem, and Frederick Douglass Academy VII High School in Brooklyn.
Educators will be trained and guided to implement a progressive and innovative curriculum that uses the hydroponics systems installed in each classroom to connect science, environmental education, and sustainability while covering the Common Core, Scope and Sequence, and EfS science standards.
NY Sun Works delivers hands-on, inquiry-based K-12 science and sustainability education through the lens of urban farming. With funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the organization will provide weekly hydroponic classroom maintenance for three under-resourced partner schools.
The goals of the service are to support each school’s long-term capacity to deliver a high-quality science program; optimize students’ learning experience in the hydroponic classroom; and expand access to fresh produce for students and their families.
Schools will also receive professional development training for science educators and weekly visits from a hydroponic specialist to guide teachers in hydroponic systems maintenance, provide planting, harvest, and produce distribution support; and clean, prep, and troubleshoot systems.
NY Sun Works
NY Sun Works is a not-for-profit organization that builds hydroponic classrooms in city schools to teach the science of sustainability through urban farming.
Through our comprehensive curriculum, we engage K-12th grade students and educators in hands-on, standards-based sustainability and climate education.
We are dedicated to bringing high-quality education to the communities where it’s most needed and envision a generation of environmental innovators, empowered to create solutions to 21st-century climate challenges.
Our first hydroponic classroom opened in 2010; today, we’re partnered with over 200 schools and reach nearly 85,000 students in New York City and New Jersey.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a not-for-profit, mission-driven grant-making institution dedicated to improving the welfare of all through the advancement of scientific knowledge.
Established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr., then-President and Chief Executive Officer of the General Motors Corporation, the Foundation makes grants in four broad areas: direct support of research in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics; initiatives to increase the quality, equity, diversity, and inclusiveness of scientific institutions and the science workforce; projects to develop or leverage technology to empower research; and efforts to enhance and deepen public engagement with science and scientists.
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