GALVESTON, Texas – December 3, 2024 – The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has announced awards totaling 5 million dollars to support 12 projects across the Gulf Coast region to cultivate K–8 youth as advocates solving environmental issues in their communities. K–12 non-profit EcoRise has been awarded $421,880 to forward and level up the work of Galveston’s Own Farmers Market (GOFM)’s Young Gardeners Program within Galveston Independent School District. EcoRise has been a robust partner of GOFM since 2022 as the primary collaborator behind the Students for Eco-Empowerment & Diversity paid high school internship program.
The NASEM grant will combine EcoRise’s standards-aligned curricula, teacher professional development, and student-driven microgrants with GOFM’s Young Gardeners Program to offer hands-on, place-based education. Together, the organizations will transform local school gardens into outdoor classrooms that foster scientific and environmental literacy for K–8 students in Galveston ISD.
The GOFM Young Gardeners Program currently operates at 7 Galveston ISD (GISD) schools as part of the TOR and Texas ACE after-school programs. With the support of the NASEM award, the Young Gardeners Program enhanced with offerings from EcoRise will be integrated into the school day, giving schools access to bilingual STEM-based and TEKS-aligned sustainability lessons. K–8 educators in GISD will have opportunities to participate in customized professional learning experiences to develop skills and confidence to facilitate lessons in their school gardens alongside GOFM’s Young Gardeners Program staff. Galveston students will gain access to the EcoRise Student Innovation Fund, which awards classroom grants to student projects that improve local environmental challenges in their schools and communities.
Interested community members can learn more about volunteering by emailing volunteer@gofarmersmarket.com or visiting galvestonsownfarmersmarket.com/volunteer.
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About EcoRise
EcoRise is a national K–12 environmental education nonprofit that mobilizes a new generation of leaders to design healthy, just, and thriving communities for all. Working at the intersection of sustainability education, climate resilience, and environmental justice, EcoRise programs elevate youth voices and advance student-led solutions to real-world challenges. Since 2011, EcoRise has supported over 11,000 teachers and 500,000 students in all 50 U.S. states through robust standards-aligned curriculum, teacher professional development, youth climate councils, and paid internships for high school students in partnership with frontline environmental justice organizations. EcoRise has been activating students as sustainability leaders since 2008 in Texas and across the U.S. To learn more, visit EcoRise.org.
About Galveston’s Own Farmers Market
Founded in 2012, Galveston’s Own Farmers Market is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to connecting our community to local foods through year-round weekly farmers markets, food access initiatives, school gardens, and health & food education opportunities. Learn more about our programs: https://galvestonsownfarmersmarket.com/about
Media Contacts
Laura Fuller, EcoRise
laura@ecorise.org
Casey McAuliffe, Galveston’s Own Farmers Market
info@gofarmersmarket.com
