Green Tweens STEM Summer Program at the YMCA

In 2015, through a competitive process, the Greenpoint YMCA, a branch of the YMCA of Greater New York, received a GCEF grant of $84,000 (and provided $48,000 in matching funds) to conduct a summer “Green Tweens” program to introduce science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects to Greenpoint middle schoolers. Major activities of the GCEF-funded project included: delivering an environmental curriculum on topics such as community environmental history, urban farming, hydroponics, gardening, composting, conservation, estuaries education, urban structures, stewardship, tree care, plant environments, and solar energy.

Through these activities, the Green Tweens program interacted with local partners including NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, Lentol Garden, Broadway Stages, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, Trees NYC, Center for Urban Pedagogy, The River Project, The High Line, Battery Urban Farm, Garden Stories, Google CS First, P.S. 84 José De Diego, Queens County Farm, and Waste Management. Green Tweens’ students also collaborated with the GCEF-funded Greening Greenpoint project to help remove dead trees and plant native flowers at Lentol Garden. Through this collaboration, Green Tween students learned how to care for trees in their neighborhood.

The Green Tweens project culminated in an event for staff, family, and friends to showcase the work accomplished by its participants.

• Provided 40 middle schoolers, ages 11-14, project-based learning activities in STEM through a 7-week summer program
• Educated students on multiple environmental topics and engaged them in community stewardship projects
• Held a culminating event attended by 50 people to showcase project achievements, including 3 Green Tween participants’ testimonials