The Hilltop Garden Explorers program, based at McCarver Elementary School in Tacoma, WA, works to engage youths and families in an active learning environment through hands on gardening and ancillary cooking, community collaboration, leadership training, business experience, classroom training, recycling/composting and garden art.
McCarver Elementary school is a Title One School where 95% of their students participate in a free or reduced lunch program. To engender a healthier attitude towards food two gardens were built adjacent to school grounds. One garden is for the Hilltop community and the other a student learning garden. Both gardens are utilized by students during the school year and during the summer.