#NonprofitSpotlight: Jones Valley Teaching Farm

What They Do:

Jones Valley Teaching Farm uses the power of growing food to transform and improve a young person’s pre-K-12 educational experience. JVTF builds student-centered Teaching Farms on school campuses to provide an environment where young people can learn, create, explore, and grow a healthy future for themselves and their community. Jones Valley Teaching Farm has partnered with seven schools (5 located in the Woodlawn community) to bring teaching farms to their campuses.

Good School Food, Jones Valley Teaching Farm's primary program, is a hands-on food education model that connects students to food, farming, and the culinary arts through standards-based, cross-curricular lessons during the school day. Full-time Instructors collaborate with teachers at every grade level to develop lessons and projects that use food as the foundation for learning. This dynamic, hands-on curriculum helps bring to life science, math, social studies, English language arts, health, and art.

Jones Valley Teaching Farm also hosts multiple after school activities. Students manage the Teaching Farms, practice culinary skills by creating recipes that incorporate the fresh produce they grow, and develop student-run markets where students sell produce to their teachers, parents, and community members. Through an accompanying curriculum, students learn to apply math skills and learn best practices in running their own small business.

Jones Valley Teaching Farm has developed a system to measure the impact of their program. They use the results to craft the most impactful program possible for students. Take a look at their impact studies here: https://jvtf.org/our-impact/ 

How to Get Involved: 

The Downtown Farm Campus offers robust volunteer opportunities with more than 2,500 hours of service recorded in 2018. Individuals can volunteer during seasonal open volunteer hours held 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m., Tuesdays and Fridays, from March through November on the Downtown Campus. Find more detailed info here: https://jvtf.org/visit-volunteer/ 

Jones Valley Teaching Farm is a nonprofit organization that exists partly because of donations from generous community members. If you are interested in investing in the Good School Food program, visit this link: https://jvtf.org/donate/