Connie Ann Michael

Michael’s innovative teaching idea, “Growing Leaders and Seeds,” will focus on the idea of food sovereignty by creating gardens to ensure fresh foods for classmates and families in need. The Voya grant will fund the building of hydroponic gardens and a greenhouse on campus to cultivate native foods such as corn, beans, squash, chili, tomatoes, potatoes, vanilla and cacao. Additionally, the students will discover the "technology" their ancestors used to make the foods without an oven. Students will be immersed in Traditional Ecological Knowledge where they will learn about First Americans’ understanding of the ecosystem.