school garden education

As an elementary school student, Ryan received less than stellar grades and would get into trouble for not paying attention in the classroom, as he was busy staring outside enveloped in the trees swaying outside the window. The spark on a child’s face when they pick their first vegetable straight from the plant can create an impact that lasts a lifetime. School Garden Education has been a fundamental passion for decades.

Throughout his adolescence, Ryan worked informally in education for decades, where a tendency towards tutoring and sports coaching became more formalized career path as he entered his 20s. Receiving his Teaching English as Foreign Language certificate in 2011, he began his actual teaching career as an English Teacher at a public middle school in Sihueng, South Korea.
 
In 2012, after moving to Brooklyn and pursuing a career in urban agriculture, Ryan became a graduate of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Brooklyn Urban Gardener (BUG) Program, where his passion for teaching became focused on the impact of school garden education could have in the public school system. His culminating project was the installation of a school garden at PS8 in Brooklyn. In the fall of 2012, Ryan began his formal tenure leading elementary school visits as the education apprentice at the Battery Urban Farm. 

Exposing the next generation to the practices of regenerative agriculture and school garden education was a key principle to the founding of North Brooklyn Farms, where Ryan worked with dozens of schools throughout New York City to facilitate field trips to the farm. Through weekly volunteer programs, school field trips and a varied array of on-farm school education programs, impacted thousands of students on the importance of being connected to local food systems. 

During his near decade farming at North Brooklyn Farms, Ryan simultaneously served as the school garden consultant for the Slow Food NYC’s Chapter. Under the Urban Harvest Program. he worked with over a dozen schools in underserved populations throughout the City to teach garden education classes, train teachers as garden educators throughout Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. He continues his work in garden education working with schools throughout Los Angeles & New York City and at Wild Russet Farm, where Ryan’s connectivity to school garden education continues in working with the local chapters of the Future Farmers of America & 4-H Program. 

“Just wanted to thank you for arranging to have Ryan come visit BUGS and provide us with insight yesterday. It was a fabulous visit and incredibly helpful. He has just the right experience and expertise to provide good advice as we try to develop our garden amid some uncertainty about how much space we have and whether we'll at some point have to move it. It was a great visit! Thanks again, and please thank Ryan for us!”

Mandy Rice- BUGS Charter School

"This farming thing has made me love farming; I think. It’s kind of magic."

I scuttle over from my library work (they were in the library, planning their regular curriculum for next year). I beam. Yes, yes, yes! I ask them to say more:

"There’s something so amazing about planting a seed and it becomes a vegetable. I love it.”

Go Ryan!!! Go Slow Food!!!

Thanks for your support. This transformation is amazing and what it’s all about….

Susan Weseen, PS

Ryan is not only super knowledgeable and able to handle every unique situation, but he was also universally beloved among both the teachers and the students. He possesses a supernatural ability to relate to everyone with kindness and care, as well as instill confidence among teachers who have a vision but lack the knowledge to execute and maintain it. He naturally brings people together and builds excitement so that everyone wants to take part, which is often a real challenge as it is usually one teacher with dedication lacking support from their fellow colleagues. His enthusiasm for what he does is contagious, and everyone’s feedback excitingly confirmed this. The children not only adored him but, more importantly, he fostered excitement around their projects and cultivated a genuine interest in understanding where their food comes from.

Dee Dee Tiller, Former Board Member Slow Food NYC, Chair of Urban Harvest Program