The 4th Annual Pittsburgh Youth Garden Summit at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens was a celebration of a summer of hard work and learning experiences.
The August 1 event brought together nearly 60 youth representing nine area groups who spent the summer working in gardens and farms. Each group shared information about the organizations where they had worked and reflected on their experiences there. Following presentations, the youth divided themselves into three groups and tackled the following questions:
- As a teenager, do you think you have a voice in your community? If so, how have you changed your community? If not, how do you think you can change that?
- How does food that you find in the garden remind you of home (examples: grandparent, relative, neighbor, close family friend)?
- How can diversity with farm and land ownership be improved?
Overall, the event was a great success thanks to the hard work and detailed planning of six core organizers: Dorcas and Bella from Phipps High School Interns, Bryah and Chyna from Braddock Youth Project’s Braddock Farms Site, and Maddie and Malek from Operation Better Block’s Jr. Green Corps. These six youth planned the events for the day, came up with their own questions for the discussion groups, made opening and closing comments, and facilitated the entire event, including an afternoon filled with fun and exciting games.