Educators 

A group of children in a garden gathers around a woman, who is showing them lettuce.

Welcome to the Civic Garden Center's Youth Education program! We’re passionate about getting kids of all ages outside and helping them fall in love with nature. Whether they’re growing food, making compost, dyeing with native plants or watching pollinators at work, we see it as nurturing the next generation of environmental stewards—something our planet desperately needs. We’re here to support you as you help them forge lifelong connections with our natural world.

CGC Outdoor Classroom

The expansive outdoor classroom that lies on the grounds of the Civic Garden Center and Hauck Botanic Garden provides endless opportunities for students to engage with the natural environment while learning more about urban agriculture and conservation. 

Compost Kids Field Trips

Our Compost Kids field trips offer teachers and students from kindergarten to grade 6 a chance to engage in scientific inquiry while learning about key components of sustainable living.

Queen City Food Quest

Queen City Food Quest brings the love of local food to fourth grade students of Greater Cincinnati. Over the course of three dynamic sessions, students learn about whole vs. processed foods, calculate the miles traveled by school lunch ingredients, taste local foods, grow ingredients and create handmade pizza using locally sourced ingredients.

Green Teens

Through the Green Teens Challenge, field studies, workforce development and more, Green Teens empowers high school students to explore the world of STEM careers and discover how they can make a meaningful impact on their world.

School Gardens

If you're interested in starting or using a school garden, we have lots of resources to help. These include:

In addition, educators can request an on-site consultation with CGC staff, schedule a custom training at your school ($100 per hour, with a maximum of 15 teachers), or reach out by email or phone with questions: youtheducation@civicgardencenter.org or 513-221-0981. We're here to support you!

Growing Our Teachers

Growing Our Teachers is a nine-month, cohort-based training program that helps educators take their school gardens to the next level and further integrate Farm to School education into their schools.