Students at The Crossroads School have grown a lot this year, and that statement should be taken in multiple ways.
Middle school students in the Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students (BUGS) program are ready to show off just how much they have grown at the BUGS Youth Farmer’s Market, held on Saturday, May 30 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. They will be selling fresh produce, eggs, honey, seedlings, handmade jewelry, lip balm, candles, lotion, and more.
The produce is grown in an on-site greenhouse at The Crossroads School. At the BUGS Youth Farmer’s Market, students will cook hot menu items and give tours of the school’s campus including the greenhouse and chicken coop. This is the 27th year that BUGS has hosted the market.
BUGS is an outdoor environmental education program focusing on the urban environment. At The Crossroads School, students learn about gardening, urban ecology, the watershed, environmental concerns, and sustainability. They also learn about nutrition and how to cook using Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM).
Students participate in the BUGS program as part of their school day, applying new learning and skills to real-world situations in their environment. The hands-on activities and project-based learning get students out into their surroundings and learning how to grow food in an urban setting.
The Crossroads School is a tuition-free public charter school operated by Living Classrooms Foundation. It has 160 students from grades 6 through 8 at the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center on its East Harbor Campus. Their instructional program focuses on the fundamentals of reading, writing, math, science, and technology while supporting both whole-child development and social-emotional learning. The entire approach focuses on learning by doing.
Living Classrooms Foundation aims to strengthen communities through hands-on education, workforce development, and community safety/wellness programs using the surrounding environment as the “living classroom.”
The BUGS Youth Farmer’s Market will be held at The Crossroads School, located in Harbor East at 802 S. Caroline St., Baltimore, Maryland.
