Submissions for Journalism and Public Relations are open to one work of creative nonfiction journalism or public relations completed for coursework during an eligible semester. Submissions should not exceed 10 pages. Keira Gere wrote the 1st place submission in the Journalism and Public Relations Category for the 2026 President’s Writing Awards.
About Keira
Keira (she/they) is an advocacy writer graduating this semester with her BA in Public & Professional Writing. They’re a consultant of 2+ years at the Boise State Writing Center and will continue their work there after graduation—come visit! Outside her academic and professional life, she can either be found somewhere in the wilderness, wandering local thrift stores, or cozying up to her cats with a gaming console in hand.
Winning Manuscript – Sowing the Seeds for Youth Environmental Education in Urban Environments
Huddled over a garden bed, a small group of preschoolers grip trowels expectantly over the unbroken surface of the soil. Guided by their teacher, they begin excavating the dirt to create a shallow trench suitable for potatoes. After carefully placing a seed into these dig sites, the children are then guided to a different bed of soil where they can see a potato in its final stage of growth. Eyes widen with wonder upon discovering countless potatoes under the surface—much larger than the seeds planted moments ago. The potato harvest is set aside for cooking later on. At Boise Urban Garden School (BUGS), this act of planting and harvesting is more than just a lesson in gardening. It’s an introduction to hands-on education and engagement with all five senses in a world of decreasing environmental immersion.
As our access to green spaces shrinks to accommodate urban development, so do opportunities for children to engage in the natural world. BUGS is one of the organizations providing an opportunity for the youth to engage in green spaces. They empower the youth with the knowledge and skills to understand environmental systems and engage in a more sustainable future. Located off Five Mile Road, BUGS is a pocket of solitude and respite from Boise’s bustling streets and urban developments. BUGS operates an outdoor preschool three days a week, Tuesday–Thursday from 9am to 12pm. They currently have 12 kids, ages three and a half to five. Pohley Richey, the Program Coordinator of Boise Urban Garden School (BUGS), kindly agreed to give me a tour of their facility and discuss their organization’s role in youth education.
During my tour of BUGS, Pohley plucked a stevia leaf from a newly purchased plant for me to try. I bite down and chew, taken aback by the amount of sweetness coming from a leaf no bigger than my thumb nail. As we walked the rows of crops peeking out of the ground to reach the spring morning sun, Pohley shared a bit more about the purpose behind their youth education programs: “Part of our mission is embracing the fact that everything is connected, that in order to have healthy humans, our environment needs to be healthy—and that includes the food that we eat, the plants that are grown, and the soil it’s grown in.” The interconnected wellbeing of humans and the environment is central to the programs at BUGS and how they empower youth in critical stages of development.
Engaging the youth in experiential learning outdoors has a plethora of benefits for both their physical and mental health. Outdoor education has the potential to improve learning retention and increase knowledge transfer. Nature may also promote learning by improving learners’ attention, levels of stress, self-discipline, interest in learning, and physical activity. Given the collaborative nature of educational settings, natural environments can foster warmer more cooperative learning relationships among peers. “It’s so important for everyone to have their hands in the dirt, to be outside, to be exposed to nature, to be off screens. It’s so incredibly
important for physical and mental health and well being,” says Pohley. In a world of increasing urbanization, access to nature becomes even more challenging—yet all the more important.
Once considered a town nestled in Idaho’s high desert, Boise has evolved into a sprawling city. Its growth has been fueled by population surges, new businesses, and housing demands, but with this growth undoubtedly comes challenges. Urban infrastructure is prioritized over green spaces. Greenery is paved over with concrete. Boise’s green spaces are shrinking, reducing opportunities for the next generation to engage in hands-on education in natural environments.
From 2020 to 2021 alone, Idaho’s population grew almost 3%, making the list of leading cities for population growth in the U.S. for the fifth year in a row. Ambitious urban expansion plans have been proposed and carried out to accommodate this growth. But as a result, the development of green infrastructure often falls to the bottom of the priority list. If current growth trends continue, Boise could lose significant agricultural land and open space to urbanization by 2100. Population growth alone will not influence the landscape, it is the decisions made about infrastructure development that will. The study emphasizes the importance of urban planning practices that prioritize long-term livability and environmental stewardship. Population growth alone will not influence the landscape; it is the decisions made about infrastructure development that will.
The projected loss of green space underscores an urgent need to equip ourselves with the tools to understand and address the changes brought about by the changing environment. The need for environmental literacy has never been greater, especially for the youth. The next generation is faced with a future of intensifying environmental crises: global warming, biodiversity loss, fragile food systems, among others. Action to address crises of such complexity and scale always begins with education and exposure, both of which BUGS offers. Hands-on learning outdoors encourages children to explore the interconnectedness of nature. They can develop an understanding of stewardship, improving their knowledge of our role as individuals and communities in the natural world. Immersive strategies can cultivate their minds to grasp more complex environmental systems and understand the role they have in nature.
BUGS’ facility is an active reflection of their efforts towards stewardship and sustainability, reflected in their composting strategies, rotation of crops to optimize nutrient cycles, and reclamation of surrounding grass for gardening use. These practices are then extended to the education efforts in their youth programs. During my tour of their facility, Pohley showed me one of their newest projects: a visualization of the composting process. Compost has been divided into three separate containers to represent different stages of decomposition, each labeled and organized for students to view and engage with. Additional facets of the BUGS facility—like their pollinator garden and beehouse—emphasize the interconnected elements of nature in education efforts.
BUGS may just be one organization, but its impact extends far beyond its bounds in West Boise. It exemplifies what is possible when green spaces are integrated into educational infrastructure. Green spaces can even be integrated into traditional educational environments. Initiatives to enrich school grounds can blend traditional education with hands-on experience in natural spaces. Schools could create small habitats for local fauna, for example. Or they might install modest planting beds or container gardens in schoolyards for use in course materials. Schools could even make use of local resources like BUGS to facilitate deeper engagement with the natural environment, especially when school facilities cannot support the development of green spaces on their own school grounds.
BUGS has a field trip program available year-round that can be hosted either at the BUGS garden or on the school’s own grounds. These field trips teach the fundamentals of environmental and nutrition education to spark curiosity and kindle stewardship. “BUGS represents a very necessary and critical element of education that is not available in many other facets of our government or of our society,” says Pohley, “From the most simple level of digging in the dirt, chopping up a carrot, making a pesto—those fundamentals we teach are so incredibly important to a healthy society and maintaining our wonderful connections.” Engaging with opportunities like the field trips BUGS offers can not only engage students beyond their classroom, but it can also forge stronger connections between local institutions. Facing rapid urbanization and growth in Boise, the next generation faces a lack of access to natural environments. BUGS offers a model for other organizations looking to integrate environmental education into their urban frameworks. Providing the youth with hands-on educational structures in natural environments like BUGS offer will lay the foundation for the next generation to be empowered and take agency in systems that prioritize urbanization and progress. When we invest in organizations like BUGS, we’re not just growing plants in gardens. We’re helping a generation sow the seeds of their future—a future in which they care for the earth and one another.