Sequoia Is On Her Way

One of GRuB’s youth, Sequoia was recently featured in an article about her participation in GRuB’s program. GRuB wanted to share some excerpts with you all donors, as a way to highlight the impact their program has had on her life:

[Sequoia] was a high school dropout, a teenager with health problems, grade problems and a bleak future. Then Sequoia signed up for a program that changed her life. She got involved with GRuB, a unique farming program in Olympia that teaches at-risk high school students about growing both vegetables and life skills. “I don’t know if I’d ever finished high school,” Sequoia said. “Not without GRuB.”

From 2001 to 2009, only 41 percent of the teens who entered the program were on track to graduate from high school. But over 91 percent of those students did graduate or got their GEDs, including Sequoia, who went on to get her GED and is still involved in the program as a counselor.

The cultivating program that mixes gardening and mentoring teaches low-income students who are at risk of not graduating a work ethic and accountability for about 25 students each year in GRuB’s Cultivating Youth Program. It’s based on the four ‘Rs,’ responsibility, rigor, relevance and relationships.

Sequoia had dropped out of Avanti High School in Olympia after missing so much school because of an illness caused by a thyroid problem. She turned to GRuB because her two sisters had gone through the program and had a positive experience. “I saw how much it helped my sisters,” Sequoia said. “I was at a point where I needed that.”

“I honestly don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for this program,” Sequoia said. “It just seems it would have gone very badly.”

To access the entire article, please click on the following link: http://www.thurstontalk.com/2011/06/05/struggling-teens-find-help-in-growing-vegetables-life-skills/

 Thank you so much to everyone for helping support Sequoia continue the GRuB program. Obviously it has had a tremendous impact on her life and it is with help from people such as you, that this program is able to make a real difference for people such as Sequoia.  Thank you all so much!