NEW YORK SUN WORKS INC

NY Sun Works aims to educate the next generation of environmental innovators empowered to create solutions to global resource challenges. By expanding our program throughout the 1,700 public schools in the NYC school system, we aim to support current & future students in building proficiency in STEM, sustainability, and cross-cutting 21st-century skills (e.g. critical thinking, problem-solving, collaborative work), thereby generating improved educational and employment outcomes over time.
NY Sun Works will reach its goals by:
-increasing the number of K-12th grade public school students from underserved communities who have access to the NY Sun Works hydroponics labs and curriculum;
- improving student proficiency in STEM & sustainability concepts;
- increasing the number of teachers trained in the use of hydroponic farming as a tool for teaching STEM + sustainability concepts and climate education;
- helping students connect STEM and sustainability practices to the needs of the local community;
- empowering students to advocate for solutions to local sustainability issues;
- addressing food insecurity and food apartheid by producing fresh produce for the local community;
- breaching the green divide by providing CEA certification training to high school students to enable access to emerging green industry;
- providing students with a global perspective on climate change; and
- changing attitudes and behaviors of students toward health and sustainability

NY Sun Works works closely with school principals and administrations to ensure its program is implemented during regular school hours and as part of the school curricula. NY Sun Works offers on-site one on one teacher training as well as virtual professional development with our large network of educators. The training covers the use of hydroponic technology as a teaching tool as well as classroom implementation of its specialized and grade specific curriculum Discovering Sustainability Science. NY Sun Works continues working with every school partners for a minimum of two years after the installation of the hydroponic lab, providing ongoing maintenance and teacher mentoring support to ensure the success and long term sustainability of the program. NY Sun Works also engages with the broader school community through special events like harvest celebrations, farm stands, donations to community partners and our annual youth conference.

NY Sun Works' leadership have been very successful at putting together an innovative and dedicated team who have a great understanding of not only their specific jobs, but the relationships between the diverse cultures in the New York and New Jersey school system.

The team have a shared mind set and strong commitment to education, the environment, and sustainable development, which drives them to work harder in all aspects of their work, whether it is in development or program implementation.

Since we opened our first Greenhouse project lab in November of 2010 we have opened 144 additional labs at schools throughout the 5 boroughs of NYC and New Jersey.

To compliment our labs we have created a new way of teaching K-12th grade science, while taking into account the mandated standards that schools have to cover. With that we aim to teach science while connecting to topics of sustainability, social studies and climate change

We have developed extensive K - 12th grade curriculum, as well as after school and enrichment programming.

We have trained 678 teachers through our DOE accredited teacher training seminar on how to bring themes of science and sustainability into the classroom.

We have hosted 10 successful annual youth conferences where students have an opportunity to share their scientific knowledge gained through our program.