THE SEED PROGRAM
SPONSORED BY: 
Empowering The Next Generation Of Children
What We Do.
We teach kids about how their power of choice can positively impact their own health and well-being and how it directly influences the entire planet.
How We Do It.
The SEED Program is a series of six (1) hour sessions either online or in person.
Where We Do It.
Schools, community agencies, businesses, nonprofits, and any other organizations.
What’s The Impact?
Since its inception, SEED has been shared with over 13,000 children in South Florida. Student feedback forms indicated that 80% of children are willing to try and eat new fruits and vegetables. They learned the importance of supporting organizations that promote environmental stewardship and gained knowledge on how even the smallest environmental changes we make transform our planet’s future.
For additional testimonials click the button below.
IMPROVING THE STATISTICS
Our SEED Program is based mainly in Broward public schools, where many kids come from low-income families. When SEED Program Educators ask kids about eating habits at home, 80 percent of students say they eat primarily fast-food diets. We understand the importance of changing these statistics. Introducing kids to healthier, easy-access whole foods such as vegetables and fruits is crucial for progress.
The SEED (Sustainable Energy EDucation) Program takes a holistic approach in addressing ecological awareness and sustainability, including topics such as self-identity, food systems, biodiversity, and systems thinking (awareness of the whole and how the parts within interrelate). Through these lessons we attempt to intrinsically motivate not only students, but teachers as well, to make choices with a global impact in mind. It is our intent to create partnerships that not only allow us to work with groups but also create projects which reflect the themes we address in our lessons. In this way, participants take the concepts they have learned and can lead by example. Through partnerships with schools, other non-profit entities and community agencies, we incorporate a strong, collaborative effort which enhances a sustainable future for our planet.
The SEED Program is an experiential, hands-on learning program designed to connect children with the natural world and their place in it.
The SEED Program teaches children about a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, and covers such topics as:
- The Four Pillars of Health – nutrition, exercise, water and sleep.
- Education about the nutritional value of food and how to grow your own food.
- The power of our daily choices and how they affect us and the planet around us.
- The value of movement, mindfulness and exercise.
- Preparing delicious plant-
based foods for health and sustainability. - The role of rest and relaxation as part of our overall health.
- Reading food labels and understanding ingredients.
- Sharing ideas for environmental stewardship.
The SEED Program addresses nutrition and the role that food plays in our overall health and well-being, the environment and sustainability, self-reliance, accountability, identity, power of choice, oneness, the benefits of exercise for our bodies and minds, stress management techniques, interpersonal skills, and awareness of intentions for managing everyday life and stress. The program ties all information and tools back into humanity’s relationship with our planet and ecological awareness. The ideas brought forward show how we are all connected more than we realize and how our health and the health of the planet are one and the same rather than separate. For example, in the Ecological Awareness and Sustainable Agriculture lesson, children learn about the similarities between what it takes to grow healthy plants and healthy humans while exploring different aspects of urban and backyard growing methods. Throughout the curriculum, the program looks at the power of personal choices that both improve nutrition and health, and conserve our planet’s precious resources.
Empowering the next generation of children.
Experience has shown us that children and people of all ages are hungry for this information, and intrinsically understand the vital connection between healthy bodies, healthy minds, and a healthy planet. Our SEED Program aims to impart knowledge related to this mind body connection and to increase knowledge about our environment so humankind can thrive as a whole, on a more sustainable planet. Children are the future generation so it’s important to empower them with these vital life skills so they can make more conscious choices and create a healthy planet for all.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The SEED Program builds on the concept of sustainability through awareness, personal choice and healthy habits. The lessons help students see themselves and the planet around them through an inclusive lens. It is our hope that students begin to recognize the challenges facing our planet today as opportunities to create a more just, loving, kind and sustainable planet. Ideally, students learn to move through life acting at this level of consciousness.
HISTORY OF THE SEED PROGRAM
Since its inception in 2014, the SEED Program, a six-week curriculum that takes a holistic approach in addressing ecological awareness and sustainability, has touched the lives of over 13,000 elementary and middle school students in South Florida Public Schools. Topics such as self-identity, food systems, biodiversity, oneness, power of choice and systems thinking (awareness of the whole and how the parts within interrelate) are explored with each student who participates in the program. Additionally, during the last three years, the SEED Program, offered a life skills program on a fee-for-service basis to many other organizations such as the Russell Education Foundation, HANDY, Inc, Orange Brooke Elementary Summer Camp, Jack and Jill Children’s Center Summer Camp, Memorial Healthcare System, City of Deerfield Beach Parks & Recreation Summer Program, and many others.
SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS
Through these lessons, we motivate both students and teachers to make choices from a more global perspective. Our intention is to create school partnerships that allow us to work within individual classrooms and create school projects that reflect the themes we address throughout the program. In this way, students receive experiential education which empowers them to take further within their own community. Through our partnerships with schools, community agencies and other non-profits, we believe we will incorporate a strong, collaborative effort that will create a better planet for all.
MINDFULNESS & YOGA
Evidence shows social and emotional learning (SEL) are essential for helping young people cope with stress. Mindfulness and yoga are excellent tools for channeling stress. Working in collaboration with Wuf Shanti and Julie Halpern of Yoga Twist, has allowed us to bring these valuable tools to young people throughout the community.
Wuf Shanti’s mission is to teach the next generation of young people how to have a mindful-mindset, cope with their emotions in a healthy way, think positively, appreciate what is good, and spread kindness and peace. The goal is to encourage kids to live in health and wellness, peace and positivity, and to teach them the tools to deal with stress in order to reduce violence and make this world a better place for the next generation.
Julie Halpern, Founder of Twist Yoga, has been teaching yoga to children since 2007 with many trainings and certifications in that area, including YogaKids Foundations, Radiant Child 1&2, Asana Alphabet, and Yoga Gangsters. She has her 200 hour teaching certification from I Love Yoga and teaches gentle and beginner adult classes. Through our partnership with Wuf Shanti and Julie we are able to expand the holistic approach of SEED to teaching self-care and wellness.
REQUEST CURRICULUM
We have made all of the SEED Program materials available for download for FREE in the link below. You will find handouts, lesson plans, recipes, and feedback forms. We will constantly be improving the resources available for educators.
We welcome your feedback and suggestions!
BECOME A SEED SPONSOR
With just a $1,500 donation to Heal the Planet you could sponsor an entire 6 week SEED Program for 25 students. Our student surveys reveal an 80% effective rate in getting the children to introduce new fruits and vegetables into their diet! Your small donation will create a huge impact in the health and well-being of our youth. Just click the Donate button below and specify ‘SEED Program’ in the note of the donation.
