Educating & Empowering Youth
Through Gardening
Terra BIRDS leads youth garden programs that promote justice, sustainability, and resiliency to help young people become the stewards of a healthy future.
What does
Terra BIRDS do?
It’s simple, we teach young people how to garden!
Terra BIRDS was founded to address the challenging educational, environmental, and socio-economic issues we are collectively facing through our innovative, multi-faceted, hands-on education programs that focus on environmental sustainability and youth empowerment. We recognize that a key to make lasting, positive changes lies in empowering youth with knowledge, skills and self-confidence that is accomplished through collaborative, just, and sustainability-oriented education.
Our Values
Rooted in the beauty and resiliency of nature.
Terra Birds Impact
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Youth Engagement & Education
2,000+ students participate in school gardening programs each year.
16 schools in Coconino County benefit from our programs.
Every child in Flagstaff should have access to a green schoolyard—help us make it happen!
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Job opportunities & workforce
On average, about 35 youth each year participate in the Spring, Summer, and Fall sessions of our BIRDS@Work Internship.
Youth earn an estimated 3,180 hours of paid work and learning experience.
Participants range from the ages of 15-22. The average age of youth participants in our 2024 work internship program was 16.
12-14 project sites in and around the community of Northern Arizona are aided each year. -
Food & Community Impact
We grow hundreds of pounds of food every year.
96 Ponderosa High School squash were donated to the Flagstaff Family Food Center.
Young people help steward 2 community gardens and 3 local farms. -
Screen Time & Nature Connection
On average, today’s kids spend up to 44 hrs/week in front of a screen.
Children in the US only spend 4-7 minutes of unstructured outdoor play per day.
Too much screen time can decrease social connections to family and friends, and lead to lower grades and increase behavioral issues.
Time in nature (i.e. a school garden) can reduce the negative effects of too much screen time. -
Community & Volunteer
Terra BIRDS relies on our community to help us connect children to nature through gardening.
Support can come in the form of donations or time.
Volunteers can engage to help with garden maintenance, share growing skills, or to fulfill community service/educational requirements.
Youth
Education
We believe every child deserves access to nature-based education. Through hands-on gardening programs in local schools, we help young people build confidence, curiosity, and a deeper connection to the earth.
Stewardship
From compost to pollinator habitats, we teach kids how to care for the land—and each other. Our programs empower youth to take responsibility for their environment and see themselves as caretakers of their communities.
Growing Food
Food connects us. We grow vegetables, herbs, and native plants with students across Flagstaff to increase access to healthy food, teach practical skills, and address food insecurity from the ground up.
Cultural & Biological
Diversity
We honor the cultural roots of gardening, land connection, and community care. Our programs celebrate Indigenous and Hispanic traditions, foster inclusion, and support biodiversity in every garden we plant.
“I notice a difference in students when they’re outside. Some students have difficulty managing their energy in the classroom, but when outside in the garden, they are different. While it’s more noticeable in some students than others, connecting with nature and having the opportunity to care for something has a positive impact on them.”
