Empowering youth to be the green leaders for tomorrow.
Join our upcoming volunteer events to help support this program!
Thanks to a $20,000 Keep America Beautiful MLK Grant, we are mobilizing Green Schools from a pilot program to an on-going effort!
Because of our tremendous partners, National Women in Agriculture, Rapoport Academy, and Waco Downtown Farmer’s Market, we are bringing stronger impact starting summer 2026 through spring 2027 for Green Schools. This grant is restricted to the MLK Corridor and surrounding areas, adding strategic beautification and efforts in East Waco.
Upcoming volunteer workdays to help these students learn through outdoor classrooms can be found here.
Collaborating to educate and empower our youth to be the green leaders of tomorrow.
Through a collaborative partnership with National Women in Agriculture, the Waco Downtown Farmers Market, and Rapoport Academy, the Raven’s Green Team is creating a farm-to-market pipeline. This initiative leverages their outdoor garden at The Garrison Garden in East Waco as a hub for growth and learning. Educational efforts are led by Chisa Brigham, fostering hands-on engagement and community impact.
2025 Pilot Program: In 2025, Green Schools launched 2 successful cohorts, taking education to outside, from garden to market, learning about establishing garden beds, fundamentals of gardening, maintaining and harvesting.
Students sold their produce at the Waco Downtown Farmer’s Market, creating a stronger pipeline of education for entreprenuralism, bringing real-world knowledge in the hands of these amazing students!
More about the Keep America Beautiful MLK Grant
Hands-On Learning in Full Bloom: Ribbon Cutting Celebrates Green Schools Project
The garden beds across from Rapoport Academy are thriving, and students and community partners gathered to celebrate how far the project has grown with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony at Garrison Community Garden.
A vibrant group of Rapoport Academy 5th and 7th graders joined Keep Waco Beautiful board members, Green Schools teachers, local leaders, and families for the event, which celebrated a $20,000 Keep America Beautiful grant and the powerful community collaboration behind the project.
While work in the garden has been underway since August — with summer prep laying the foundation — this week’s event was a chance to celebrate the visible growth in the beds and the teamwork behind it all. Immediately after cutting the ribbon, students put their hands back in the dirt to plant a fall crop of garlic.
What’s Next for the Garden
Weekly Garden Days: Students work in the garden every Tuesday, learning sustainable agriculture, soil health, and plant lifecycles firsthand.
Winter & Spring Expansion: The program continues into the spring semester with a new group of students. Over the winter, an indoor hydroponic garden will be added to the 7th-grade science classroom so students can start plants from seed indoors.
Farmer’s Market Debut: Through a five-week business module, students are learning pricing, marketing, and public speaking. They will put these skills to work at the Waco Downtown Farmer’s Market on Saturday, November 21, selling their fresh, harvested produce and herbs just in time for the holidays.
This project is made possible through a collaborative partnership between Keep Waco Beautiful, Rapoport Academy Public School, 4-H Youth Development, Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Waco National Women in Agriculture.
Volunteer days are coming for 2027! Learn more and see upcoming opportunities here.
COMMUNITY NEED: We need help support with mowing/weed-eating the space. If you are looking for volunteer hours and can contribute to this with your own lawn equipment, reach out to Chisa at: cabrigham@pvamu.edu
Thank you to our collaborative partners!
Growing Green Schools beyond East Waco.
Keep Waco Beautiful gave $500 of delegated beautification funds to support Lake Air Montessori’s Outdoor Classroom Initiative! These educators have really transformed outdoor learning to a whole new level, integrating Montessori methods for all age ranges. To support their efforts, Keep Waco Beautiful gave a small portion of designated beautification funding to help grow their outdoor classrooms. Potential volunteer workdays may be available in Fall 2026, learn more here.
What’s next for Green Schools
Our vision is to see Green Schools across Waco! As we are focusing on the MLK Grant from summer 2026-spring 2027, we are hoping to build off this programs formation to bring Green School opportunities across the city.
Thank you to our areas passionate educators who are making this program possible. Stay tuned for upcoming opportunities to have Green Schools at your campus!
We are a proud partner of the Texas Children in Nature Network.
This initiative is part of Keep Waco Beautiful's broader mission to foster a more vibrant and sustainable community. By involving students in practical, STEAM-powered activities, the program not only imparts essential environmental knowledge but also instills a sense of responsibility and connection to their local environment. Through these efforts, Keep Waco Beautiful aims to cultivate a generation that values and actively contributes to the beauty and sustainability of Waco.
