Grow Pittsburgh and the Penn State Agricultural Extension have partnered to bring The Edible Schoolyard to Pittsburgh Public Schools. Dilworth, a PPS Magnet on Stanton Avenue, was selected as a pilot school. This is envisioned as a community project, and we would like to include you!

We hope to start in the early spring when the children plant and grow a small vegetable garden. They will be able to harvest and taste the first crops before summer vacation. Ideally, this will grow into a larger scale project involving other stakeholders in our community.

The original Edible Schoolyard, ( see http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/ for more info), upon which we are modeling our project, was started 10 years ago in Berkeley, California by Alice Waters. The Edible Schoolyard Pittsburgh is a pilot program for the school year 2006-2007. It was designed to teach sustainable living principles centered on a school garden.

The program at Dilworth is intended to compliment the current curriculum (which, at Dilworth, also is integrated with the arts) and enhance the learning processes. Focal points include nutrition, health, exercise, and a general understanding of from where food comes . The Edible Schoolyard program will integrate the arts, science, literacy, and math. In the meantime, students learn about the food they eat, from where their food comes,and how to make healthy choices.

Since the program will be community designed and driven we would like to invite you to to participate in one of the following committees: Design, Programming, PR/Fundraising Committee. (Please see descriptions below.) Or you can simply volunteer your services for planting in the spring.

The Design Committee Will work with students/parents/teachers to determine the layout of our garden, design the entrance to our garden, and decide what materials we will use for our raised beds, stakes, trellises, etc.

The Program/Curriculum Committee Will work with students/parents/teachers to determine what we will grow in our garden, how much we will grow, and what we will do with it once it is ready to harvest. Also consider things like "Veggie of the Month" events and if we want a "Garden Club" that would meet after school and during the summer.

The Public Relations/Fundraising Committee Will work with students/parents/teachers to integrate all parts of the community in support of The Edible School Yard. Determine what type of fundraising activities we want to do i.e . bulb sales, Organic garden supplies sale, "Buy a brick" event and/or a letter writing campaign. Also, develop a flier and distribute door to door to the neighborhood introducing the project and inviting neighbors to participate.