Juvenile Detention Center Community Garden- Champaign County, Illinois
Master Gardeners showcase their Juvenile Detention Center garden.
Champaign County Master Gardeners who volunteer at Champaign County Juvenile Detention Center, won 2nd place in the International Master Gardener Convention, Search for Excellence Award, October 14, 2011 in Charleston, West Virginia. Master Gardeners have dedicated the last eight years developing an exceptional horticulture program at Juvenile Detention Center. The garden provides different forms of engagement for youth, including designing, planting, and maintain gardens; harvesting, preparing, and sharing food; working cooperatively in groups; learning about science and nutrition; and incorporating literacy.
The mission of Champaign County Master Gardeners is to “Help Others Learn to Grow.” Every Thursday afternoon, you will see this motto in practice at the Juvenile Detention Center in Urbana. The community garden at Champaign JDC is the site of a year round educational program focused on at-risk youth ages 12-17. Working inside during the winter on interactive lessons the Master Gardeners prepare their students for spring and summer when they work outdoors maintaining the gardens on a weekly basis.
Working around the inherent restrictions of a secured facility, the Master gardeners have used their creativity to create relevant and exciting lessons. Some the most popular lessons are the salsa-making lesson where students experiment with produce grown in their garden and an indoor lesson that exposes students to familiar and unfamiliar produce (pumpkins, watermelons, squash etc.) while collaborating with a music professor who brings international instruments made from gourds. Master Gardeners and teen-agers have also created a habitat for Monarch butterflies. The garden is now a certified Monarch Waystation. The garden was also a feature of the 2011 Master Gardeners Garden Walk.
To learn more about Champaign County Master Gardeners view their website at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/champaignmg/
Written by Julie Steele, Master Gardener Coordinator Champaign County Illinois
Tags: Illinois, juvenile detention center, monarch waystation, search for excellence, sfeawards-youth projects, youth
