The Catherine Desourdy School Garden Mentor Program provides schools with volunteer Master Gardener mentors to help schools develop and maintain school gardens. The mentors assist schools in setting gardening goals and ensuring continuity from year to year. They also provide science-based gardening advice and information about resources. The goal is for mentors to support school gardening clubs and encourage using the garden as an outdoor classroom. The free program serves over 20 towns in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

1. The Catherine Desourdy School Garden Mentor Program (SGM)
is a program of University of Rhode Island Master Gardener
Program based at the URI Extension Outreach Center. The goal
of the SGM Program is to help Rhode Island and surrounding area
schools provide relevant learning environments to foster deeper
understanding of natural sciences, food systems, environmental
stewardship and other STEAM concepts.
Catherine Desourdy
School Garden Mentor Program
EXTENSION
OUTREACH CENTER
Towns currently participating in the Catherine Desourdy School Garden Mentor Program:
The SGM Program is a free service, contingent upon volunteer staffing ability.
Schools are provided with a team of one to two certified URI Extension
Master Gardener volunteers who have each completed additional
training to qualify as a School Garden Mentor (SGM). Their mission is
to assist your school in determining and reaching your school’s own
gardening goals, to facilitate year-to-year gardening continuity and to be the on-going
conduit for science-based gardening advice and the many free resources available
to your school through URI Cooperative Extension. The primary goal of the
SGM is to provide gardening advice to the school’s gardening group and
encourage teachers to utilize the garden as an outdoor classroom.
For more information, visit web.uri.edu/mastergardener
Coventry
North Kingstown
Exeter
Cranston
East Providence
East Greenwich
West Warwick
South Kingston
Westerly
Hopkinton
Narragansett
Richmond
Pawcatuck
Portsmouth
Newport
Barrington
Bristol
Providence
Swansea, MA
Stonington, CT
Berkley, MA