Champion Community Sites Awardees
Angel's Place – Northside
Child Care Center
Early Childhood
Number of Children: 15
Award Grant | Healthy Moves and Healthy Foods
Angels’ Place North Side will use their Champion Communities grant to implement a holistic wellness program, specifying science, nutrition, and gardening lessons. Parents will be encouraged to contribute through their Family Support Program and Play Connections group.
Bridgeville Community Food Bank
Community Center
Pre-K to Eighth Grade
Number of Children: 32
Seed Grand | Healthy Habits-Healthy Kids!
Bridgeville Community Food Bank will use their Champion Communities grant to fund “Healthy Habits-Healthy Kids!”. This program will create spaces where children can create home gardens, learn how to plant new types of produce, and harvest said plants to create healthy meals that can be recreated at home or school
Brookline Elementary
Pittsburgh Public Schools
Kindergarten to Third Grade
Number of Children: 339
Seed Grand | ESTEEM
Brookline Elementary School will use their Champion Communities grant to fund a Healthy Habits ESTEEM program. Here, ESTEEM professionals will teach students how to sustain healthy, life-long fitness, and social-emotional leaning strategies through movement.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Hazelwood
Community Site
Six to Fourteen Year Old’s
Number of Children: 334
Award Grant | Homegrown Hazelwood
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh-Hazelwood will use their funds to create hands-on educational programs geared towards managing food insecurity and tackling childhood hunger. Programs will be held in the library's garden space. Attendees will have the opportunity to take home plants and seeds that can be grown at home/in windowsills.
Cleveland Steward Elementary School
Gateways School District
Fourth Graders
Number of Children: 350
Award Grant | Playground Pavilion for Outdoor Learning
Cleveland Steward Elementary School will use their Champion Communities grant to fund the construction their Playground Pavilion for Outdoor Learning. This will provide a learning space for children of all ages, but with a particular focus on Fourth Grade to play, grow, and explore topics around nature
Cynthia K. Franck’s Childcare
Early Childhood Center and Afterschool Site
Three to Five Years Old
Number of Children: 70
Seed Grand| Know It, Grow It, Cook It!
Cynthia K. Franck’s Childcare will use their Champion Communities grant to fund the program, “Know It, Grow It, Cook It!”. In this program, children between ages 4 and 5 years old will gain the ability to identify healthy foods, learn how vegetables grow, and create healthy snacks.
Heritage 4 Kids Early Learning Center
Early Learning Center
Infant to Five Year Old’s
Number of Children: 167
Seed Grand | Heritage Friendship Garden
Heritage 4 Kids Early Learning Center will use their Champion Communities grant to fund the Heritage Friendship Garden. This garden will help kids grow their friendships and healthy foods. Each child will have the opportunity to care for the garden in a multifaceted way and will participate in cooking classes where they can learn and share recipes in the food desert of Braddock.
Heritage Out of School Time
After School Site
Pre-K Through Eighth
Number of Children: 150
Seed Grant| Heritage Life Lab
Heritage Out of School Time will use their Champion Communities grant to fund the Heritage Life Lab that will allow students to actively participate in growing and cooking healthy foods. Their main goal is to branch nutrition and education in a way that is engaging to students and helps them gain an understanding of wellness and healthy practice.
Manchester Academic Charter School
Elementary School
Seventh and Eighth Grade
Number of Children: 380
Seed Grand | To The Macs
Manchester Academic Charter School will use their Champion Communities grant to fund “To The Macs”. To The Macs will engage 7th and 8th grade students in programs that incorporate physical activity, healthy eating, garden maintenance, harvesting, so that they can learn about where food comes from and build healthier habits.
Park Elementary School
Steel Valley School District
Third through Eighth Grade
Number of Children: 340
Award Grant | Cooking in Schools
Park Elementary School will use their Champion Communities grant to bring cooking to school. Cooking In Schools will provide a supervised setting where students will learn how to cook recipes using produce from the school garden, helping them develop healthy eating habits. They will then be able to bring these dishes home and share new experiences with their families.
Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship
Penn Hills School District
Kindergarten through Eighth Grade
Number of Children: 462
Award Grant | Garden of Entrepreneurship
Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship will use their Champion Communities grant to engage students and the community with their Garden of Entrepreneurship. Here they will learn about, buy, sell, and trade produce. This will increase urban community access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Pittsburgh Banksville K–5
Pittsburgh Banksville K-5
Kindergarten to Fifth Grade
Number of Children: 300
Seed Grant| ESTEEM
Pittsburgh Banksville K-5th will use their Champion Communities grant to fun their ESTEEM program. Through ESTEEM they hope to teach students how to utilize dance, yoga, and mindfulness to help themselves, each other, and their community.
Pittsburgh Carmalt
Pittsburgh Public Schools
Kindergarten to Fourth Grade
Number of Children: 530
Seed Grand| Cultivating Healthy Habits with Planting
Pittsburgh Carmalt PreK-8th will use their Champion Communities grant to fund “Cultivating Healthy Habits with Planting”. In this program students will be instructed by their very own Science and Physical Education teachers on how to plant pea seeds, observe the growth cycle, and cultivate healthy habits through perennial gardening.
Pittsburgh Mifflin Pre-K to Eighth
Pittsburgh Public Schools
Third through Eighth Grade
Number of Children: 290
Award Grant | ESTEEM
Pittsburgh Mifflin will use their Champion Communities grant to fund their ESTEEM program. Here, ESTEEM staff will work with students to learn yoga, dancing, and team building activities.
Providence Connection, Inc.
Early Childhood Center
Pre-K through Kindergarten
Number of Children: 65
Seed Grand | Providence Connections Garden to Table
Providence Connections, Inc. will use their Champion Communities grant to fund their very own “garden to table” program. Providence Connections Garden to Table will teach students the importance that access to fresh produce at home and school plays in adapting and maintaining a healthy diet. They hope that this will foster a love of sharing fruits and vegetables will the community.
Riverview Jr. High School
Riverview School District
Elementary and Middle School
Number of Children: 175
Seed Grand | Riverview Diversity Garden
Riverview Jr./Sr. High School will use their Champion Communities grant to create a Diversity Garden. The Diversity Garden will be part of a “garden to table” program where students learn how to plant, care for, and harvest at least seven diverse crops, with the help of local farm staff, that they will use in their school cafeteria.
South Allegheny Elementary
Elementary School
Kindergarten to Fifth Grade
Number of Children: 563
Seed Grand| Kindness Counts
South Allegheny Elementary School will use their Champion Communities grant to fund “Kindness Counts”. Through Kindness Counts, students will be able to flex their creativity by creating a sunflower “seeds for change” garden that supports the Kindness Counts curriculum and encourages sustainable community habits that are healthy and long-term.
South Park Library
Community Center
Pre-k to Fourth Grade
Number of Children: 180
Seed Grand| Planting, Painting, and Playing Outdoors
South Park Library will use their Champion Communities grant to fund a Pre-K to 4th grade program called “Planting, Painting, and Playing Outdoors”. This program will provide children and their families resources to grow their own plants, make healthy meal choices, express their creativity, and spend time outdoors.
Thomas Childcare and Learning Academy
Childcare and Learning Center
Kindergarten through Seventh Grade
Number of Children: 55
Award Grant | Thomas Childcare Exercise and Healthy Snack Club
Thomas Childcare and Learning Academy will use their Champion Communities grant to organize an exercise program for children to participate in on a weekly basis. This program will teach participants the proper way to perform exercise and have fun at the same time. They will discuss the importance of daily exercise and proper nutrition to maintain a healthy lifestyle. TCLA will also offer a healthy breakfast and healthy snacks before and after school for the kids to consume to help start and end their day.
Young Scholars of Greater Allegheny Charter School
Childcare and Learning Center
Elementary and Middle School
Number of Children: 300
Seed Grant | Four P’s: Plant it-Pick it-Prepare it-Plate it
Young Scholars of Greater Allegheny will use their Champion Communities grant to fund a program that will grant elementary and middle school students access to garden space and foster a love of gardening that will teach them how to grow their own produce for nutritional needs
