As we are well into Back to School mode, we just wanted to catch you up on our amazing summer, powered by Sodexo! Over six weeks, our scholars:

• Logged 5,579,532 steps
• Rescued 1,769 meals
• Acquired 108 new vocabulary words
• Wrote over 100 letters to people, businesses, and visitors
• Grew over 5,000 pounds of vegetables – donated to food insecure recovering cancer patients – we even made television news!
• Prepared meals daily, learned to use chopsticks, made dumplings and kimchi, wrote our own fortune cookies
• Visited hospitals, colleges, museums, farms, famers markets, and business sites across NYC
• Planted at the Botanical Gardens
• We even rode camels!

Now we’re back in our places with bright shiny faces, classroom painted and ready to go!

We were so honored to feature our experience, strength, and hope to grow something greater in the beautiful city of Atlanta where El Capitan talked about what it meant to be Georgia Grown, keynoting the first ever Aglanta Conference to a standing ovation and speaking to a focus group at MODA – Museum of Design Atlanta – at their special exhibit: FOOD by Design – SUSTAINING THE FUTURE. Special thanks to our friends at Blue Planet Consulting, Agritecture, Mario Cambardella, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner, Gary Black, and the great State of Georgia & City of Atlanta.

Our National Health Wellness & Learning Center continues to attract visitors and attention from around the world and around New York City. Last week we hosted Ms. Negrelli’s class all the way from Coney Island! Her class learned about us via the internet and came for a day of lessons, full STEAM ahead! During our time together, we farmed, raced on our bicycle generators, cooked, made smoothies, learned how to pickle and shared a Farm to Table meal. Thanks to our good friends at Gotham Greens, every child also went home with a bag of fresh, healthy produce and a handful of easy to use classroom recipes! Bringing children together from diverse backgrounds and different neighborhoods across NYC and the world for unique experiences and 21st Century college and career opportunities are at the heart of what we do. We grow students, smiles and success all year long!

We’re determined to prevent the summer slide! While summer is a time to farm, get outside, and have fun – we also need to remember that learning and reading should never stop! According to Scholastic:

• During the school year, lower income children’s skills improve at close to the same rate as those of their more advantaged peers – but over the summer, middle- and upper-income children’s skills continue to improve, while lower income children’s skills do not.
• It is estimated that the “Summer Slide” accounts for as much as 85% of the reading achievement gap between lower income students and their middle- and upper-income peers.
• Regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic level, or previous achievement, children who read four or more books over the summer fare better on reading-comprehension tests in the fall than their peers who read one or no books over the summer.
• 3rd graders who can’t read on grade level are four times less likely to graduate by age 18 than a proficient reader
• Having reading role-model parents or a large book collection at home has a greater impact on kids’ reading frequency than does household income.
• Reading as a leisure activity is the best predictor of comprehension, vocabulary and reading speed.
• An overwhelming 92% of kids say they are more likely to finish a book they picked out themselves.

WE CAN STOP THE SLIDE! We’re determined to purchase four NEW BOOKS for every student at CS 55 – and best of all, let them pick from grade appropriate titles – AND – take them home for summer! We seek to purchase over 3,000 new books! Help us read our way to continued success and gift a book donation now!

Donate a Book!

We are so proud that our Founder, Stephen “El Capitan” Ritz, is releasing his book with Rodale: The Power Of A Plant. The book, co-written with friend and colleague Suzie Boss, highlights his odyssey of teaching in the Bronx dating back to 1984 and details the birth, genesis and evolution of Green Bronx Machine. True to his spirit, Stephen is donating proceeds from the book to support GBM to help grow something even greater. The book is destined to be a classic and is part memoir, part instructional and 100% inspirational filled with moments that will make you laugh, cry, jump for joy and leave you equipped and determined to MAKE EPIC HAPPEN in your life and the lives of others. Watch for news of the book tour!

PRE-ORDER NOW!

Winter is here – and our school is under scaffolding – BUT, thanks to Macy’s and our favorite Santa’s Helpers, we were blessed to turn our scaffolding into an amazing Winter Wonderland that has become the Pride of CS 55 and a source of inspiration for all of Claremont Village. On the coldest day of the year, Macy’s NYC staff, along with Assemblyman Michael Blake came to spend the day and help decorate! We had so much fun we made the news!

Just last week we were thrilled to host our sister city program, Green St. Louis Machine and Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club. Traveling all the way from Missouri – the “Show Me State” – we showed them a GREEN BRONX MACHINE GOOD TIME and picked our own Tower Garden Salad! With Chef Bill Yosses and Chef Roberto working our Green Bronx Machine Mobile Classroom Kitchen, we all cooked up a storm and celebrated the National Health, Wellness and Learning Center. When our chefs cook, it is a VIP Affair and we were honored to have both Linda Curtis-Bey and Nancy Woods from the NYC Department of Education Chancellor’s Office visit and help cook, highlighting our Community School STEM / STEAM model! Afterwards, we took a VIP Tour of Yankee Stadium. Together, we are growing communities and camaraderie across the nation.

We are proud to be rolling out Green Bronx Machine Mobile Classroom Kitchen units across the country and Canada with our colleagues at Port Equip. This lightweight, highly affordable, USDA, NFS, UL approved, 100% portable, plug and play, commercial kitchen is transforming culinary arts and access in schools and programs everywhere – with state of the art access and technology – now available with charge kits and trickle battery. Who knew cooking in school could be so easy, so affordable and so accessible.

I am thrilled to report that co-author Suzie Boss and I have completed the manuscript for our book: The Power Of A Plant, to be released by Rodale this May, which highlights my personal odyssey as a teacher as well as the amazing Green Bronx Machine story. I’m honored to be donating proceeds to support Green Bronx Machine and grow more healthy children and thriving schools around the world. You can pre-order now.

And if that’s not enough, we are putting the finishing touches on our Green Bronx Machine Classroom Curriculum as we speak. This curriculum will be Common Core, Next Generation Science Standards, P21 and International Baccalaureate aligned across every single subject and content area – putting the art and science of growing healthy children and healthy, high performing schools at everyone’s finger-tips for educators around the world.

Part of Effort to Improve Access to Fresh Food and Nutrition Education
in Underserved Communities

SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK – Green Bronx Machine has been awarded a $25,000 grant from Newman’s Own Foundation, the independent foundation created by the late actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman.

Newman’s Own Foundation made the award to Green Bronx Machine as part of a broader commitment to support programs that increase access to fresh food and nutrition education in underserved communities. This funding will help Green Bronx Machine build healthy, equitable, and resilient communities through inspired education, local food systems, and 21st Century workforce development.

“We believe that healthy students help drive healthy schools, and that healthy schools are at the heart of healthy communities. We envision growing healthy communities where those who are ‘apart from’ will become ‘part of’ new solutions that benefit 100% of society; a world where people do not have to leave their community to live, learn and earn in a better one. Together, we can grow something greater!”

Green Bronx Machine is dedicated to cultivating minds and harvesting hope, our school-based model using urban agriculture aligned to key school performance indicators grows healthy students and healthy schools to transform communities that are fragmented and marginalized into neighborhoods that are inclusive and thriving.

“We are proud to fund Green Bronx Machine as they work to make a difference in our communities,” said Bob Forrester, President and CEO, Newman’s Own Foundation. “They are one of the many organizations helping to identify needs and fill the gaps for children and families who lack access to healthy foods.”

Newman’s Own Foundation has been supporting food and nutrition programs for more than 30 years and has given more than $11.5 million to nutrition-focused organizations since 2014. The Foundation continues Paul Newman’s commitment to give all net profits and royalties from the sale of Newman’s Own food and beverage products to charity. Since 1982, more than $475 million has been donated to thousands of charities around the world.

We are back to school and hit the ground running! We’re so proud to debut our Back to School Video highlighting the completed National Health Wellness and Learning Center classroom and our May 10th Celebration with NYS Education Chancellor Dr. Betty Rosa and our Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

Watch the Video

Our back to school fair was the best ever, and we distributed over 250 pounds of vegetables straight from our school garden. Check out the size of those eggplants!