MCPS to Host Earth Day Volunteer and Groundbreaking Event for the First REACH Hub Urban Farm

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will host nearly 1,000 volunteers, lawmakers and county leaders from 9 a.m.–2 p.m. on Monday, April 22, for the Resilience, Education, Action, Climate, Habitat (REACH) Hub groundbreaking ceremony and Earth Day volunteer event at A. Mario Loiederman Middle School. 

As part of “Out-of-School Time” programming, hundreds of middle and high school students, along with MCPS staff and volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, will spend time building portions of the farm, rehabbing a courtyard garden, planting bio retentions at Loiederman and at nearby Weller Road Elementary School.

Out-School-Time at Loiederman RSVP here. 

Weller Road (for elementary school students) RSVP here

The REACH Hub at Loiederman is being developed by MCPS in partnership with the Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming. Based in Silver Spring, the nonprofit land trust is dedicated to creating and supporting neighborhood farms that provide educational opportunities, improve food security, build community connections and promote land conservation. Through support from Montgomery County Green Bank’s Technical Assistance Program, site designs are being developed by MCPS to increase resilience. 

The hub will support food production and climate resiliency, as well as serve as an accessible resource for over 17,000 students (89 percent minority) from 20 school locations within two miles, including four schools within walking distance. In addition to Loiederman as the host site, schools within walking distance include Weller Road  Thomas Edison High School of Technology and Wheaton High School.