Meet Paul Hudak and Justin Galvan of Growing Together Education

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Hudak and Justin Galvan.

Paul and Justin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Growing Together Education (GTE) was founded by Paul Hudak and Justin Galvan. Justin and Paul worked together tangentially for 7 years before finally deciding to combine forces to start GTE. Justin is a father of 3 and former US Marine who subsequently worked for years in private security. Paul spent 10 years managing large organic farms in Oregon and has spent the last almost 20 years establishing and advising organic school garden and sustainability programs.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Most schools will jump at the chance to establish outdoor growing spaces on their campuses. One of the perceived challenges is that schools don’t have space for school gardens. While some do have plenty of green space at the ready for gardens, some do not. While this could be viewed as a challenge, we see this as an opportunity. We have worked with multiple schools to establish rooftop gardens and grow hydroponically in converted storage containers.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Growing Together Education works in partnership with K-12 schools and school districts to establish organic gardens and learning spaces that benefit the education goals of their students as well as the physical and mental well-being of the students and broader community. Our work ranges from designing and building out gardens to student instruction to teacher training and curriculum development. While our work is nationwide, we work with many school districts in and near Los Angeles. We recently completed building multiple rooftop gardens and living science labs with Riverside Unified School District. One of our longtime partners is in Santa Monica. We also do work offering Organic Home Gardening programs to youth through the Los Angeles Public Library network.

One of our most forward thinking and strong local partnerships is with Bellflower Unified School District (BUSD) and a robust Career Technical Education organization there called CalAPS (California Advancing Pathways for Students). Here we have helped establish rooftop farms and greenhouses. Through the Urban Farm Sciences course there, we work with students to hydroponically grow 500 heads of lettuce a week inside of a converted storage container. In addition to focusing on the importance of students learning the science and environmental importance of growing food sustainably, we also work closely with mental health and culinary arts instructors to empower students to take charge of their diets and lifestyles through collaborative educational opportunities. The amazing team in their Nutrition Services Department receives 500 heads of student-grown greens and herbs each week and sends it out to school salad bars district-wide.
We recently piloted a program with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver where we were the first school in the country to implement his Ministry of Food program. Based in the UK, it serves over 100,000 students teaching them how to cook healthy recipes. After piloting this in BUSD classrooms, Jamie visited the school last May to harvest produce with students and work together on cooking a meal together.

Growing Together Education prides itself in working with schools to create sustainable programs that give students a voice and opportunity to impact their families and their entire communities’ health. We believe that each student, school and community are uniquely different and, therefore, each model and program should be representative of their communities values, culture and needs.

What matters most to you?
We founded Growing Together Education with the intention of working with schools and districts to create rigorous organic garden/environmental education models that support the academic, health and personal needs of their students, families and communities at-large. GTE is more than just growing plants. Our mission is based in giving students agency to grow as individuals, honor their culture and make positive change in communities. We view this as a way to bring communities together and impact the health of all while learning important lessons in and out of the classroom.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.growingtogetheredu.com
• Instagram: @growingtogethereduction