All members of the Tufts community are invited to join the Tufts Boston Active Citizens, the Class of 1983, and Tisch College as we work on a number of projects with Groundwork Somerville in support of their mission to build sustainable communities through joint environmental action. Participants will engage in many elements of Tufts student Nora Chovanec (A09)'s, "Somerville Public Schools Garden Mural Project" including mural painting, decorating of benches, designing compost bins, and building sheds while teaching children about nutrition and the environment. Local families will also be participating - a great way to give back to the community and to work side-by-side with them!

Somerville Public Schools Garden Mural Project - Groundwork Somerville
Nora Chovanec, Corvallis, OR, Class of 2009
Nora is working with Groundwork Somerville, an organization that focuses on empowering Somerville youth, as well as engaging families and neighbors, to become stewards of their very local environment through caretaking a pocket garden at their own schools. This year she will be developing and leading an after school garden mural club for 6th and 7th graders at two schools in the Somerville school district. The murals will focus on community gardens, healthy eating, the process in which food reaches the table, and how the Somerville community is involved in all of that. They will be designed and painted by middle schoolers in the area through a twice weekly after school club. The class will consist of learning about the history of mural work, elementary drawing and painting instruction, field trips to local farms, class discussions on healthy eating, and then of course the designing and painting of a permanent mural that will be displayed in the school. She will also be working with Groundwork Somerville on various extra growing healthy gardens projects in the community.