RID-ALL provides youth programming and leadership that provide a vehicle to educating our youth on the benefits of becoming good stewards of the earth.. Our Youth Educational Programming falls under our “Green ‘n tha Ghetto” banner. It is geared toward educating and entertaining young people and the general community on environmental sustainability. Our Brink City comic book series is one of the tools used to reach the urban youth.  We partner with collaborators to educate youth and adults on environmental stewardship, training others to reclaim fallen urban fields and transforming them into productive plots of land that offer healthy local food.

The RGP campus is comprised of two green houses, four hoop houses, a commercial composting station, a fish-pond, a rain catchment pond, and a Native American styled tee pee.  In addition to growing and selling numerous fruits and vegetables at the site such as kale, greens, tomatoes, corn, squash, cucumbers and lettuce, the RGP has also farm raised over 8,500 tilapia fish using a unique indoor aquaponics and hydroponics self-sustaining system that grows fish in tanks and vegetables on a connected top tier.  The vegetables and fish provide mutually beneficial nutrients to the self-contained ecosystem, resulting in extremely healthy (and tasty) fish and vegetation.
 
The farm site has become a beacon of hope for the community, attracting 4,000 annual visitors and trainees (youth and adults).  The farm has been a summer job site for area youth and has hosted weddings, community festivals, and concerts.

Youth Programming

Outline:
 
Our youth programming consists of, but are not limited to the following areas:
 
  1. Work Studies Programs
  2. In-School Trainings
  3. Off-Site Farm Trainings
  4. Volunteer Opportunities

These in-school programs consists of STEM studies as well: 

Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct.
 
Three Information Stations
Session #1 – The Role of Sunlight in Photosynthesis
Session #2 – Understanding Sugars and Carbohydrates
Session #3 – Oxygen: the byproduct of Photosynthesis
 
Key Terms and Definitions:
  1. Photon
  2. Chloroplasts
  3. ATP
  4. Calvin Cycle
  5. Respiration
  6. Absorption
  7. Glucose
  8. Chlorophyll
  9. Carbon Dioxide
  10. Joseph Priestly Oxygen Experiment
  11. Synthesis
  12. Carbohydrates
  13. Oxygen 
For more info please contact Keymah at keymah777@aol.com or 216-253-7391