Attention, Edible Schoolyard New Orleans has a very important Shout Out!

Deborah Underwood leading an activity on Watermelon Day for Green

We would like to give a SHOUT OUT to all our interns and volunteers, for instilling environmental stewardship in our children; 

a SHOUT OUT to our interns and volunteers, for increasing our students’ academic success and upping the chances they'll go to college; 

a SHOUT OUT to our interns and volunteers, for maintaining safe, playful, and productive school gardens that show our city’s children the respect and beauty they deserve; 

and a SHOUT OUT to our interns and volunteers, for fighting the racial, economic, and social injustice in New Orleans one student, one seed, and one hour at a time.

Allow us to contextualize.

Zuri Obi shoveling compost at Ashe

This past calendar year, ESYNOLA offered 3,000 garden and kitchen classes for K-12 graders and hosted over 70 special events. Those are really high numbers, and it’s almost unfathomable considering that all of our classes involve experiential learning, which means small groups, hands-on activities, and lots of personal attention. This kind of intimate approach to education is how we teach kids and families about the ecology of Louisiana, where food comes from and how to prepare it, and how to live healthy lives.

Liz Mervosh participating in Iron Chef at Green

But our staff is not huge, and the communities we serve are expanding. As FirstLine Schools has soared in academic achievement, it’s grown from two to five schools (700 to 2,800 students) in the past five years. The support of our 500+ volunteers and interns in classes, on Open Garden Days, and at special events is the reason ESYNOLA has been able to keep up with this growth while maintaining the high level of personalized attention we give our students and our five school gardens.

So we are not exaggerating when we say that ESYNOLA could not do what we do without the passion, expertise, and generosity of our interns and volunteers.