Growing Minds

3 people in olive green shirts, smiling at the camera, each carry a planter holding six green-leaved starter plants
Carol Gross

Welcome to Unearth It! Growing Minds

Growing Minds is the second project in the Unearth It! series and focuses on helping students in grades 9–12 develop knowledge, awareness, and skills in the realms of cultural history, leadership, and horticulture through an innovative curriculum-based project. Longwood Gardens worked collaboratively with Unionville-Chadds Ford School District (Kennett Square, PA), specifically Unionville High School, to develop and pilot this project.

Why bring Growing Minds to your school?

  • Provides an exciting way to meet curriculum standards within your classroom.
  • Promotes developing and enhancing research, inquiry, and problem-solving skills using a real-life connection.
  • Links to careers in horticulture (STEM).
  • Improves Social Emotional Learning through teamwork, presentation skills and connecting to the local community.
  • Increases awareness of local history and Indigenous Peoples.

Being involved with this project is a great way for high school students to give back to both the school and the community. I felt like this project gave us a better understanding and appreciation of the local indigenous community. It felt rewarding to take part in something so different and innovative. 

–Ethan Shalaby, Unionville High School student

Project Overview

By taking part in this project, you are inspiring your students to think about plants and the world in which they live. Throughout the project, students will explore their local land and see how native plants in the area played a role with the Indigenous Peoples who stewarded the land before them. Students will come up with a creative way to acknowledge native plants and the history of the area within their learning community. The skills students gain using teamwork, collaborating, and their own self confidence will enable them to feel empowered to act and make a difference in the world.

Growing Minds Question

How can you be a thought leader and honor local Indigenous Peoples through the lens of horticulture?

The Research Themes

  • History of the land
  • History of local Indigenous Peoples
  • Local native plants

Criteria for Success

The project impact and success will be shown in many ways, including:

  • Exposure to new curriculum content
  • Learning about new career opportunities
  • Producing a video that demonstrates the knowledge gained
  • Demonstrating their leadership skills
  • Demonstrating how their plan could be implemented on school grounds or locally

Questions?

School and Youth Programs
E-mail: schoolandyouth@longwoodgardens.org
Phone: 610.388.5377

Ready to bring this program to your students?

Registration is closed. Please check back for upcoming opportunities.