Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club (MDBGC) has taken the lead as the backbone agency in bringing an evidence-based, Disney Channel recognized program from New York City to Saint Louis! Partners include:
The club has partnered with local volunteers and award winning educator Stephen Ritz to create the Green St. Louis Machine Project at MDBGC, Grand Center Arts Academy, North Side Community School,
Pamoja Academy, and St. Stephen Ritz, known for his Green Bronx Machine initiative, is a teacher and administrator who uses gardening, including aeroponic growing technology, Tower Garden®, to grow healthier, more engaged students in the South Bronx. This compact, state-of-the-art, vertical aeroponic growing system fits easily in the classroom. Instead of growing plants in traditional horizontal rows, the system grows plants vertically. With only so much land available to grow food, growing plants vertically makes sense for the Earth’s ever-growing human population. And, given growing water shortages, vertical aeroponic gardening makes sense, because it requires much less water than traditional growing methods. Plants grown aeroponically do not even need soil! Students from Grand Center Arts Academy, North Side Community School, Pamoja Academy and the Mathews-Dickey Swimming Program will be a part of the Green St. Louis Machine using the Next Generation Science Standards. Phase I began October 5, 2015 and concluded with a Harvest event on November 16, 2015 Each partner school received the start up kits from MDBGC and the founding donors at no charge (up to a $3,000 value).
