About the Project

The Gateway Program is designed to create avenues for tangible growth and learning by students in our socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood. For the past 22 years, we have continued to develop new components to our Gateway Program that have enriched the lives of our students, enhanced their education, and ensured participation by parents and community stakeholders. At the center of our program is the empowerment of our disenfranchised community. Thanks to a previous IFT grant we were able to construct three new gardens that have impacted learning in a powerful way. The Gateway Program is now focusing on increasing its efforts to understand climate change and other environmental issues and we have added a money management component that allows students to learn the importance of this topic. Additionally, art has been proven to increase academic success which makes the improvement of our art elements vital to our student’s growth. The key to having achieved this level of success is ensuring that we adapt to remain relevant in how and what is needed by our students. Our focus with this grant is to continue to expand to deliver powerful lessons, and as a bonus, offer an abundance of fruits to provide healthy alternatives for students.