Our programs

Kind Scholars connects younger students with older peers, college and post-college career mentors. Kind Scholars utilizes I Am College Ready Solutions (IACRS) social-emotional learning curriculum to support the development of strong social, academic, emotional, and career skills that will be applicable to their secondary and post-secondary educational pursuits. 

Kind Scholars mentors support expressive arts projects during lunch hour to give students the chance to engage in meaningful conversation around entrepreneurship, self-expression and strategies to improve academic achievement. Our Creative Arts Program engages middle and high school students in various activities such as jewelry and lanyard making, face mask decorating, collages, coloring pages, freestyle drawing, and other expressive arts.  In addition to cultivating creative outlets for our students to reflect on and express their emotions, this program allows students to destress through artistic means and build relationships with their peers and mentors.  

Kind Scholars can also implement Food Grown Home STEM curriculum to provide youth with education on healthy eating and urban food growing. 

A safe, empowering, and supportive environment is provided as students are given the space to create art-work, engage in healthy food-growing and conversations regarding academic goals.  Our Kind Scholars mentoring program has served youth at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Briggs Chaney Middle School, Gaithersburg Middle School and community centers in Gaithersburg City.  

Mentors link students to career and college resources., support field trips, organize special events and support college applications. College interns have often served as Kind Scholar Mentors. Students can engage in volunteer activities and gain SSL hours. 

Connecting Health Eating and Gardening/Career Skills

In the past, the Food Grown Home project connected families across Montgomery County to monthly sustainable urban food-growing projects. FGH cohort members received food-growing supplies as well as curated growing instructions and recipe suggestions at no cost. This initiative took place during the pandemic when everyone was home and did not know what to do. They also struggled for they very first time in their lives with looking at empty shelves at their neighborhood grocery stores. The sense of urgency and anxiety around being able to access healthy produce was a real focus on the minds of many people. Thus, this project promoted the concept of environmentally-friendly farming practices to increase access to nutrient-dense foods. Food Grown Home projects engaged the entire household, utilizing a multigenerational approach with grandparents, parents, and children involved in food-growing and produced tangible, delicious food within their household. 

Once students returned to school, the FGH project focused on providing horticulture education to students in the school setting. Various schools and community centers have received our services. Many students have led their own student garden clubs or participated in lessons and gained real life skills in a short period of time. We are very proud of connecting youth with career skills that also lead to healthy eating. , Food Grown Home also aims to raise community awareness on the benefits of indoor vertical farming within urban areas and how we can reimagine local food systems to protect our environment. Learn more here!