At Pioneer High School, the Garden Grub Club has visited nearby Woodland Community College to study garden design and plant propagation. The college greenhouse has even loaned the club space to grow plant starts for the high school’s garden. Club Facilitator Heather Campbell says the students enjoy doing hands-on activities where they see a physical result at their school. One student experiment involved constructing potato towers to find out which type of potato and tower grew best. Campbell says the activity was eye-opening to many club members; “Some students didn’t even know there were multiple kinds of potatoes before that

experiment!”

At Woodland High School, the Garden Grub Club has constructed their own garden beds and reached out to help younger students. For facilitator Mason Shelnutt, building community is an important goal for the club. The club has visited Whitehead and Beamer Elementary Schools to weed and repair garden beds and fix broken irrigation. Shelnutt says the club offers students a chance to experience a “horizontal learning process” with their peers instead of the more traditional “top-down, lecture-style” learning.

The Woodland High School club has also visited Full Belly Farm to see how food is cultivated and toured the kitchen at farm-to-fork restaurant Preserve in Winters. Shelnutt says the restaurant field trip, which included personal sourdough pizzas for the students, was a special experience. “For many students, this was the first nice restaurant they had visited. It allowed them to see the culinary side of the farm-to-fork process.”

At both schools, students have enthusiastically embraced the Garden Grub Clubs. Haleigh Smith, a 17-year-old junior at Woodland High School, says the club has given her practical knowledge, like how crops interact with the soil. She also loves participating in projects that

beautify her school. “The club is inspiring. It makes you want to go out and plant or restore something!”

For her classmate José Delgado, the club has offered a way to connect with family. “I wanted to join because I was interested in the agriculture aspect. My dad farms land in Mexico, and it has helped me relate with my dad more.” José says the club has also broadened his perspective on where food comes from. “Before the garden club, I didn’t recognize how important agriculture was and how much of an impact it has on people’s health. It’s really made me conscious of that.”

Heather Campbell says facilitating the club at Pioneer High School has been rewarding. “Giving the students an opportunity to connect with nature is incredibly important. It also offers a sense of agency to students as they help design aspects of the garden, at an age when you don’t always feel in control. It’s a revelatory experience for them to see things grow and have a hand in that process.”

Funded by the California Department of Education, the ASSETs program provides qualifying students with “a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment to develop and grow their potential”, with a strong focus on “development of life and leadership skills”, according to the Empower Yolo website.