Friends & Family! Enjoy 25% Off. Use Code: STOCKUP Shop Offers

Free Travel Size Flax Dry Shampoo w/ Orders $50+. Use Code: VOLUME

x

Budding Botanist

A USA-based grant program to inspire our youngest citizens to value the environment and protect their local ecosystems.

Commitment

Commitment

CHILDREN'S EDUCATION

To advance its botanical mission, the Klorane Botanical Foundation has partnered with national non-profit Kids Gardening, a leader in the school gardening movement for almost 40 years. Since 2018, over 40,000 children in the USA have been reached through the Budding Botanist grant packages that have been awarded to school educators with low-income schools to provide garden-based learning opportunities for both remote and hybrid learning options.

Featured 2023 Winners

Atlanta, GA

M. Agnes Jones Elementary

Through traditional and aquaponics gardening, students will learn about soil quality, beneficial organisms, ecosystems, lifecycles, and being caretakers of the environment. The school will redesign a part of its school garden to create a habitat for their resident turtles.

Coconut Creek, FL

Coconut Creek Elementary School

The school garden will teach students about pollination. Students will also study biomes around the world to learn about the importance of biodiversity and life on our earth.

North Las Vegas, NV

Clark County School District

Students will use their school garden to learn about Monarch butterflies. The school will designate its garden as a Monarch Waystation, refresh a worm bed, and start a citizen science data collection opportunity for youth.

Discover the 2018-2023 winners

Durham, NC

EASTWAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The garden will begin the process of attracting pollinators and wildlife to support their natural ecosystem. Native and pollinator-friendly perennial plants will be added to the garden in tandem with birdhouses and feeders, butterfly houses, and multiple water features.

Washington, D.C.

BRIDGES PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL

The expansion will include native and perennial plants, and students will grow beans, squash, and corn, the Three Sisters, to promote agricultural balance, sustainability, healthy eating, and the indigenous heritage of their land.

Kealakekua, HI

KONAWAENA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The garden expansion will increase the number of native plants in the area using indigenous cultural practices, restoring the ecosystem from invasive plants.

Salem, MA

BATES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Students will learn about Salem’s unique climate and ecosystem, including wildlife, native plants, and pollinators through their existing school garden. Students will build bird houses and bat boxes and learn more about the animals and insects that visit the schoolyard.

Stilwell, OK

BELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

With 98% of the student population identifying as Native American, the school will start a new school garden that will grow native crops that are Pre-European and Pre-Colonial.

With 98% of the student population identifying as Native American, the school will start a new school garden that will grow native crops that are Pre-European and Pre-Colonial.

Park Hills, MO

CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL

The students will learn about biodiversity through a project-based learning unit focused on the environmental needs of their community culminating in a student-designed solution to address one of the community needs they uncover.

Tyler, TX

DOUGLAS ELEMENTARY - TYLER ISD

Students will learn about biodiversity and environmental sustainability by growing plants hydroponically and in indoor container gardens. They will also compare and contrast the growing mediums and learn about the importance of agriculture.

Dundalk, MD

DUNDALK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The garden will establish a green space that allows students to interact and explore their local ecosystems. Students will learn about the conservation of the endangered monarch butterfly, create an edible garden, and learn about plant propagation.

Aguadilla, PR

ESCUELA MICAEL

The school will install a rainwater catchment cistern in their school garden to teach students about environmental sustainability. Additionally, the school will invite guest speakers from the island of Puerto Rico to share about biodiversity and environmental sustainability.

Cornelius, OR

FOREST GROVE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Students will learn Mezo American farming practices as a way to understand sustainability. By learning the heritage and culture, the students can see themselves in the garden space. The garden will teach them about the connection between our food and the environment.

North Fort Myers, FL

HANCOCK CREEK ELEMENTARY

Students will improve their garden space to include a habitat for pollinators. With the new pollinator space, students will learn about native Florida plants, collecting seeds, and the metamorphosis of butterflies.

Charlemont, MA

HAWLEMONT REGIONAL SCHOOL

The program will create a new garden space to grow food. At the end of the year, students will build miniature gardens out of repurposed materials to grow their own microgreen gardens in their windows at home.

Hialeah, FL

JOSE MARTI MAST 6-12 ACADEMY

The Green Club seeks to empower students by increasing environmental awareness. Students will become familiar with beneficial native plants as well as invasive, detrimental non-native plants. The school will collaborate with conservation partners to cultivate native plants

Milwaukee, WI

MILWAUKEE SIGN LANGUAGE SCHOOL

The misson of the garden is to teach students about the importance of gardening and how to create sustainable habitats for plants and animals. Students will use the garden as an outdoor laboratory to learn about biodiversity.

Gresham, OR

MULTNOMAH EDUCATION SERVICE DISTRICT

The school garden teaches youth with disabilities about permaculture agricultural education, engages students in sensory-based garden therapy, and provides a habitat for native wildlife.

East Providence, RI

ORLO AVENUE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The goal is to understand the impact humans have on the decline of the Monarch population and brainstorm ways to help combat this issue. The school will collaborate with the high school to improve its garden space.

Brooklyn, NY

P.S. 135

Students will compare and contrast the benefits of conventional farming and hydroponic farming to learn about environmental sustainability. Through the lessons, the students will explore water resource management, efficient land use and climate change.

San Francisco, CA

SUTRO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Students will expand the school garden to create more space for growing plants. Students will learn about plant life cycles, climate change, indigenous land practices, decomposition, native plants, and adaptations.

South Holland, IL

THORNWOOD HIGH SCHOOL

The school garden teaches students about food deserts and how local gardening can be a partial solution. To improve their garden space, the school will create a pollinator garden section.

Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON GLOBAL PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL

Students will research, plan, and plant a garden that attracts butterflies to the school. Through interactive learning in the butterfly garden, students will have a deeper appreciation of the biological cycle of life and the importance of environmental sustainability.

Austin, TX

ANDERSON MILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Anderson Mill Elementary school is excited to expand their existing growing space to include a pollinator/wildlife garden, rain garden, and drought tolerant garden.

Staunton, VA

BESSIE WELLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Educators at Bessie Weller Elementary School will bring hands-on gardening activities to students learning remotely through the creation and delivery of life cycle themed take home Grow Kits.

New Haven, CT

CELENTANO BIOTECH, HEALTH AND MEDICAL MAGNET SCHOOL

Celentano Biotech, Health and Medical Magnet School will distribute garden kits to students participating in distance learning, giving youth the opportunity to create micro greenhouses and container gardens that they can share with their families.

Gary, IN

CHARTER SCHOOL OF THE DUNES

Through a partnership with the Gary Food Council and Purdue Extension, the Charter School of the Dunes plans to facilitate an afterschool program that will allow students to become certified as Junior Urban Farmers.

Carthage, NC

CRAIN'S CREEK MIDDLE SCHOOL

Crain's Creek Middle School looks forward to adding native pollinator beds to their garden to use in conjunction with an elective STEAM Learning Garden course.

Lakeland, FL

CRYSTAL LAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL

With help from their local Water Management District, students at Crystal Lake Middle School will design and create a Rain Garden as part of a wider project focused on the ecological impact of stormwater runoff and water pollution.

Flint, MI

FREEMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Freeman Elementary School will expand garden-based learning opportunities by installing a designated monarch butterfly waystation, native Michigan berry beds, bird habitat, and more.

Glenwood Springs, CO

GLENWOOD SPRINGS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Teachers are thrilled to make their dreams of a climate controlled, drip irrigated, solar-powered high tunnel greenhouse a reality at Glenwood Spring Elementary School.

Indianapolis, IN

INDIANA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF

The Indiana School for the Deaf will revitalize an old greenhouse and purchase hydroponic equipment to use as part of an Exploring Agriculture Program that provides deaf youth with vocational training.

Milwaukee, WI

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE SCHOOL

The installation of raised beds will help transform an asphalt playground into an engaging nature-inspired landscape at the Nathaniel Hawthorne School.

San Francisco, CA

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School will offer take-home garden learning kits, complete with native California plants, to all students to enhance weekly virtual garden lessons.

Volcano, HI

THE VOLCANO SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES

The Ka Mala Maluhia (Children's Peaceful Garden) at the Volcano School of Arts will feature an abundance of native Hawaiian plants, from vegetables and herbs to medicinal plants and pollinator-friendly varietals.

Columbia, SC

Windsor Elementary

In the spring, Windsor Elementary used their Grant to double the size of their butterfly garden. A "little library" was created for the garden space. Since the transition to remote learning, various classrooms have continued to focus on garden-based projects. Produce grown and harvested over the course of the summer was delivered to a select number of food-insecure families connected to the school on a weekly basis.

Pine Ridge, SD

Red Cloud Indian School

The Red Cloud Indian School is using their Grant to provide opportunities for Oglala Lakota youth in grades K-12 to connect their tribe's traditional knowledge and culture. Through at home gardening kits and on-site farmer's markets, students can receive nutritious foods in the cafeteria, classrooms and their own homes while also learning about traditional indigenous agriculture.

Brooklyn, NY

MS915

MS 915, in partnership with Brooklyn Bridge Park horticulturalists, is creating a "natural oasis" in the heart of their urban community. The space will feature native trees and shrubs, a designated space for food crops, and an outdoor classroom. The students are excited to start working on this project once in person school commences.

Knoxville, TN

AUSTIN-EAST MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL

With help from the Grant, the school can provide students with healthier food options, dynamic learning opportunities and exposure to potential futures in food-related fields. While garden programming has been postponed due to remote-learning in the school district, the school is exploring supplemental virtual garden-based education programs and are looking forward to in-person learning to resume.

Lakewood, NJ

NEW ROAD SCHOOL OF OCEAN COUNTY

New Road Schools serves students with developmental, learning, social, behavioral and language disabilities. Noted benefits of garden-based learning include improved motor skills, enhanced creativity, increased social skills and improved self-confidence. The school hopes to double the size of their garden, install a polycarbonate greenhouse, and integrate an aquaponic system into their programming to encourage a culture of conservation and natural resource stewardship within their community.

Omaha, NE

WALNUT HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The school plans on building garden beds in the fall so that the garden can be used in person or as a backdrop to virtually delivered garden-based programming in late fall and next spring. The local organization that has been working with Walnut Hill Elementary School to implement the Grant has been conducting successful and popular virtual garden programming all summer long and will use these programs to help support teachers still engaged in remote learning.

Pa'auilo, HI

PA'AUILO ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL

Pa'auilo Elementary and Middle School looks to revitalize an old greenhouse, transforming it into an outdoor classroom space that will accommodate all grade levels participating in garden-based programming. With help from the Grant, by producing local and culturally relevant foods and canoe crops, food that the ancient Hawaiians brought with them on their voyages, students experience on a weekly and daily basis the meaningful life-skills of seeding, planting, caring for, harvesting, and preparing food they grow in their very own schoolyard.

Philadelphia, PA

NORTHEAST HIGH SCHOOL

With help from the Grant, the new school garden will promote a lifelong culture of environmental sustainability by teaching students how to cultivate and maintain edible gardens. Students were in the process of working on the final design for their aquaponics system last spring when schools switched to remote-learning. The school is looking forward to restarting work on the aquaponics project when they return to school.

Plymouth, MN

FAIR PILGRIM LANE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

With the help of the Grant, students were able to plant a pollinator garden, fill raised beds with soil and plant vegetables that were donated to emergency worker families and teachers. Both parents and teachers volunteered over the summer to complete garden projects and maintain growing spaces. The Grant allows the school to support and encourage hands-on, proiect-based outdoor learning experiences to ensure students learn important science content by doing science, rather than by just reading about science.

Siren, WI

SIREN SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Grant was used for a garden expansion that was completed over the summer with the help of teachers and volunteers. Throughout the summer, produce grown at the school garden donated to a local food pantry. Now that school is back in session, the food service department is using garden-grown fruits and vegetables in lunches and snacks. Students are excited to grow very rare, heirloom seeds. The district works hard to incorporate Native American learning wherever it can, so students can connect to their local and familial history. A part of the school garden is used to grow Ojibwa heirloom seeds promoting the three sisters companion gardening concepts.

Springdale, AR

CENTRAL JUNIOR HIGH

Students in Central Junior High's agriculture program will be working on a series of advanced programs to implement a biogas digester and ultralow irrigation system in their garden space. Garden-based activities associated with the class continued uninterrupted but remotely throughout the spring and will continue in the fall. Students were able to maintain the garden throughout the summer.

Tucson, AZ

IMAGO DEI MIDDLE SCHOOL

With their new Grant funds, the school has installed an aquaponic system that will better educate students on the different ways to grow food in an urban, desert environment. The school was able to engage students in assembling part of the system before the school closed due to COVID- 19. While learning from home, students are working on miniature aquaponics systems and butterfly rearing kits. The school also runs an on-site food pantry for the local community where some of the food comes directly from the school's garden.

Los Banos, CA

R.M. Miano Elementary School

The school was rewarded with the Budding Botanist grant to fund a new carnivorous garden. According to 6th grade teacher & program coordinator Sergio de Alba, "The gardens have become engaging opportunities that change their outlook in life as well as what they feel their future holds. Our students learn to become stewards of the land that they work and the forthcoming community leaders, scientist, and farmers that will ensure that our environment and land is respected."

Albuquerque, NM

INEZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

According to parent volunteer Rebecca Brinkerhoff, the Grant will help "foster a love and appreciation for our high desert environment, and design a landscape plan to demonstrate xeriscape principles, including water retention practices and erosion management. We will use native plants along with traditional regional building techniques such as adobe and rammed earth berms," continued Brinkerhoff. "Teaching sustainability and an appreciation for the bounty possible when respect for our environment and traditional and pueblo community knowledge are used is what this program is all about."

Bridgeport, CT

WALTERSVILLE SCHOOL

"The Grant is being used to support the creation of a Monarch Butterfly Corridor and expand the school's current garden program. The students were inspired by a hands-on learning activity exploring the impact of humans on their local ecosystem and wanted to help pollinators by creating a garden with native plants. Waltersville's Science Teacher John Cunningham says, "We will be teaching the students how to be citizen scientists with this new garden project and showing how our actions can help pollinators in our dense, urban environment." Cunningham also adds that the students will be starting milkweed plants at home to further engage them and create additional habitat for monarchs and pollinators.

Chicago,IL

Chicago,IL

ACADEMY FOR GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

The Academy for Global Citizenship is a Chicago Public Charter School located on the city's industrial and undeveloped Southwest side. Sustainability Coordinator Marney Coleman shares "With food and farming as a central teaching tool, students learn the power of their daily choices to improve their own wellbeing as well as the health of their communities and the earth. Students graduate with a strong understanding of natural systems and a responsibility towards their communities and the planet." The Academy also incorporates garden harvest into their cafeteria and offers a student-run mobile farmers' market to bring locally grown, organic produce to their whole community.

Knoxville, TN

SPRING HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The Grant will help create a certified wildlife habitat featuring entirely native species: sixteen trees, shrubs, and flowering plants. With the help of a local wildlife habitat program, the garden will not only educate the children, but will promote plant and animal biodiversity, as well as serve as a rich platform for community engagement. The garden will also aid as a haven for up to 169 species of birds, moths, butterflies, and caterpillars. Spring Hill Elementary School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Lab Teacher Amanda Callahan-Mims says, "The abundance of fruiting and flowering trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants provide nectar, pollen, fruit, and seeds for animals and insects over the seasons as our indigenous flora allows."

Queens, NY

THE RENAISSANCE CHARTER SCHOOL

The school is utilizing the Grant to help expand their year-round garden to help increase the amount of fruits and vegetables they are able to produce. Their garden is used as part of an agriculture-based curriculum for high school students, a student-driven permaculture leadership program, and for food education classes. The school's Development Associate Peggy Heeney says, "If we teach children all the benefit of buying and eating locally sourced food because it's healthier, it is better for the environment as there is less transportation involved."

Redford, MI

THURSTON HIGH SCHOOL

With the Grant the school will create a new rain garden which will combat water runoff from roads, buildings and parking lots, increase biodiversity and watershed health, while also combating invasive species. Their new garden will be a hands-on learning lab for high school students and an opportunity for school district elementary and middle schools' classes can visit to learn and explore. According to Thurston High School student Sara Borsodi, "There will be so much exploring and learning in our new rain garden and with it the opportunity to apply classroom skills to real life." "We can take this critical thinking and apply it to our rain garden by deciding what plant species we need to plant in order to attract certain insects, birds, and small mammals that increase biodiversity, sustainability and improve our watershed."

Kansas City, MO

Brooklyn, NY

P53K – District 75

P53K is a special needs New York City public school program serving K-12th grade students. They used their Grant to create a fully accessible garden space for students of all abilities to learn from and enjoy. Principal Heather Leykam shares that they plan to integrate garden activities into an "adaptive science curriculum that results in sustainable gardening becoming an integral part of our everyday learning environment and school culture."

Kansas City, MO

Kansas City, MO

CITIZENS OF THE WORLD CHARTER SCHOOL

"Our students have begun their journeys as being conscious consumers," says Sara Murphy, Citizens of the World Charter School Parent and Special Education Process Coordinator. "We emphasize the importance of respecting the body and its connection to the environment, this means guiding students to consider not only what they eat and put into their bodies but also what they do, how they treat others and the world around them."

Washington D.C.

Washington D.C.

EAGLE ACADEMY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL

The launch of the new school garden program is a key component of an overall Environmental Literacy Plan. STEAM Integration Specialist Karen Brooks-Bauer of Eagle Academy Public Charter School explains, "We have three big goals: living and learning sustainability, appreciating our natural environment near and far, and understanding where our food comes from."

Oakland, CA

Oakland, CA

GARFIELD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

From school day lessons taught by Food Corps volunteers to a special student-led business that sells healthy snacks and natural beauty products, students learn about science, nutrition and socio-environmental justice through the garden program. Teacher Abdul-Haqq Khalifah's goals are to make sure students are "active participants in their food choices" and also aware of "their impact on the world."

Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles, CA

ROSEMEAD HIGH SCHOOL

Teacher Joseph Vasquez shares that "integrating classroom learning with 'real world' gardening projects motivates high-risk students to stay in school and persist to graduation. Garden projects rally more students to care about the environment and take action." The goal of the project is to challenge existing thoughts about plants that are traditionally thought of as "weeds" and urge students to investigate the horticultural and ecological purpose of all the plants that appear in their garden.

New York, NY

High School for Climate Justice

The new garden will focus on native species to New York to teach students about the natural ecosystems in their home communities. The garden will include native plants, pollinators, composting, and rain collection practices.

Palm Bay, FL

Odyssey Charter School, Inc

This school supports global sustainability through experiences that prepare students to lead the world toward a healthier, cleaner, more sustainable future. The garden will expand the current organic farming program by creating a garden designed to attract pollinators.

Ferguson-Florissant, MO

Robinwood Intermediate

The goal of the garden is to teach students that plants, gardens, and green spaces play a critical role in creating a healthy, livable and sustainable planet. The new garden will teach students about water conservation using rainwater collection and recycling by using biodegradable products.

Long Branch, NJ

Audrey W. Clark School

The school garden will provide an outdoor learning space for students to explore nature and get first-hand experience in sustainable garden practices and nutrition using native plants, climate-friendly, and water-wise practices, and edible foods.

Brasher Falls, NY

Brasher Falls Central School District

The new courtyard garden will provide an opportunity to teach students what is possible to grow in a small area by developing a greenhouse, a pollinator garden, and a nature trail.

San Antonio, TX

Cooper Academy at Navarro

The Urban Zen Garden will create an oasis of calm amid a busy urban setting to teach about respecting the environment, most fundamental to appreciating other cultures. The new garden will include native plants, and rain collection and composting practices.

Deer Isle, ME

Deer Isle Stonington Elementary School

The foundation of the garden is built on sustainability and biodiversity and the garden expansion will include growing crops to provide snacks to students, composting programs, and the continuation of the Blue Hubbard Squash Project.

Knoxville, TN

Inskip Elementary School

The garden will engage the community in sustainable agriculture practices, through the production and maintenance of heirloom varieties of crops, seed saving, no-till gardening, and native perennial plantings to increase biodiversity.

New Orleans, LA

Livingston Collegiate Academy

The Seeds for Social Justice program will establish environmental sustainability practices. The school’s garden will add biodiversity to the New Orleans area, which has been affected by frequent hurricanes and climate events.

Arlington Heights, IL

Miner School

The garden will be a space where students can go to expand their STEM projects. The garden will promote sustainability and biodiversity through native plants, pollinator plants, a greenhouse, composting, and by practicing seed saving.

Denver, CO

Monarch Montessori of Denver Charter Elementary

The mission of the garden program is to teach students about landscaping design technology, perennial plants, and methods for planting a native pollinator garden. The students will conduct citizen science projects in the garden.

Georgetown, DE

North Georgetown Elementary School

The garden provides a vibrant outdoor classroom and thriving ecosystem where children and families learn how to grow food, search for insects, learn about species adaptations, and create environments for wildlife.

Glendora, CA

Sandburg Middle School

The gardening program at Sandburg Middle School has a goal of being completely off the grid and sustainable. The school’s new garden will include solar power for energy generation and an on-site composting center.

Garden Grove, CA

Santiago High School

The garden will connect students to food and nature so they become lifelong stewards of their health and the environment. The students will become citizens who value and advocate for environmental health.

Wentzville, MO

Pearce Hall

The new gardening program will be used to promote environmental sustainability by starting a recycling and composting program within the school. Students will share their gardening knowledge with other schools in the district by propagating vegetable starts.

Brooklyn, NY

JOHN DEWEY HIGH SCHOOL

The school sent 75 hydroponic lab kits to students engaged in remote learning. The home hydroponic lab kits will be used to promote biodiversity and sustainability through laboratory investigation cycles

Chimacum, WA

CHIMACUM ELEMENTARY

Situated in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, Chimacum Elementary will complete a native prairie plant propagation and habitat restoration project that will culminate in the installation of a Rain Shadow Native garden and water catchment system.

Ronan, MT

WILLIAM HARVEY SCHOOL OF THE RONAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

With the help of the wider community, the school plans to revitalize Polliwog Park, a growing space dedicated to native Montana plants, ecological history, and the food cultures of local indigenous communities.

Watch Now

Budding Botanists In Action

 

SCHOOL GARDENS

Provide opportunities for hands-on learning, inquiry, observation and experimentation across the curriculum.

 

Motivate kids to eat and love fruits and vegetables - an effective way to promote life-long healthy eating habits.

 

Promote physical activity and quality outdoor experiences by connecting students to the natural world.

 

Teach kids about where their food comes from and to think critically about local and regional food systems.

KidsGardening

KidsGardening

For 37 years, KidsGardening has led the school gardening movement. They create opportunities for kids to learn through gardening, engaging their natural curiosity and wonder by providing inspiration, community know-how and resources. As a national nonprofit, they are improving nutritional attitudes, educational outcomes, social emotional learning, and environmental stewardship in youth across the country. Beginning with 50 youth garden grants in 1982, KidsGardening has benefited an estimated 1.5 million children and contributed close to $4.4 million dollars in funding to youth gardening initiatives across the U.S.

BUDDING BOTANISTS IN ACTION

Environmental love

BOTANICAL BRAND
With every Klorane purchase, a portion of its sales goes to support activities of the Klorane Botanical Foundation.
Our History
history
Botanical Expertise
botanical expertise
Our Foundation
the buzz