School was awarded grant by Universal Music Group and Verve Label Group and is supported by the Captain Planet Foundation

April 11, 2024 – Brooklyn, NY – Today, Associates of Universal Music Group (UMG), and Verve Label Group (VLG), joined select teachers and 6th grade students at the Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School to celebrate the enhancement of the school’s garden area. The team unveiled unique signs with artwork designed by the students for the three working gardens on site: Food, Peace, and Wildlife. They also worked with students to plant various vegetables, herbs, and pollinator plants.

The garden grant from VLG was the winning prize from UMG’s Green Team’s “Go Green Challenge,” during the company’s Earth Month celebration. The “Go Green Challenge” engages participating US employees to compete to complete a list of actions to lower their carbon footprint for their respective business units or labels. For each completed challenge, UMG purchased a carbon offset to encourage sustainable action. VLG was the winning company for this annual event.

UMG’s community garden project launched in 2022 with gardens established in the UK, France, Australia, and New Zealand.

Captain Planet Foundation’s Project Learning Garden program provides a context for multidisciplinary learning, ranging from nutrition and science to social studies, math, and language arts. Students benefit by expanding their palates, taste-testing healthy foods, and learning about food origins; engaging in authentic science field investigations; manipulating the environment to understand math in real-life applications; recreating historical activities; and writing across all these disciplines.

Leesa Carter-Jones, President & CEO of the Captain Planet Foundation, stated “We are thrilled with Universal Music Group and Verve Label Group’s commitment to Project Learning Garden.” She continued, “Anything can be taught in the context of the garden, and this hands-on learning helps students understand how to grow food and eat more healthily. A connection to nature and an increased consumption of fresh & healthy foods both stand at the center of Captain Planet Foundation’s mission to engage and empower young people to be problem solvers for the planet.”

Jamie Krents, President, Verve, Verve Forecast and Impulse! Records stated, “Verve Label Group is dedicated to making a positive impact in the communities that we serve. Project Learning Garden makes a huge impact for kids at their schools; inspiring them with a direct connection to nature, environmental education, and healthy living.”

Added, Susan Tenner, Co-Founder & Executive Director of Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School, “We are beyond excited to be awarded a grant by Universal Music Group and Verve Label Group (supported by the Captain Planet Foundation) and to welcome them to BUGS. Our students were thrilled to have their artwork transformed into beautiful signage that will inspire students and our surrounding community now and into the future.”

She continued, “BUGS 6th graders also loved the chance to show what they’ve learned about systems thinking and the importance of green spaces and fresh vegetables– while they shared a salad of produce from our gardens with our guests. We are grateful for this remarkable show of support from our partners, as we strive to “educate for sustainability” and encourage our students to envision and create a greener, healthier community. This show of support lifts us up and brings both hope and resources to our kids, teachers, and families.”

About Universal Music Group
At Universal Music Group, we exist to shape culture through the power of artistry. UMG is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content. Featuring the most comprehensive catalogue of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. For more information on Universal Music Group visit www.universalmusic.com. 

About Verve Label Group:
The Verve Label Group (VLG), a division of Universal Music Group, comprises some of the world’s most iconic label imprints, including Decca Records US, Decca Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, Mercury KX, Impulse! Records, Verve Records, and Verve Forecast, along with distributed label partner ECM. VLG’s current roster includes Andrea Bocelli, Chad Lawson, Samara Joy, Max Richter, Jon Batiste, Ólafur Arnalds, Ludovico Einaudi, Tank and the Bangas, Lang Lang, Keith Jarrett, and many more.

About Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School
Founded in 2013 by community leaders, educators, and families, BUGS is a small, diverse, stand-alone, community-based middle school for grades 6-8. Through the study of environmental, economic and social sustainability, BUGS fosters critical thinking, civic engagement, and the skills young people will need to succeed in high school and contribute to a more just and sustainable world.

About Captain Planet Foundation (CPF)
Captain Planet Foundation is an award-winning, US-based NGO that works collaboratively to engage and empower young people to be problem solvers for the planet.

Over the past 33 years, more than 1.7 million children have directly participated in CPF’s programs, which have funded 3,700+ projects, impacting 11.4 million young people around the globe. CPF’s operating programs include: Project Learning Garden which has provided 675+ U.S. elementary schools with onsite learning laboratories and healthy food access; Green Heart STEM Challenge for Environmental Justice, which supports 6th – 8th grade students as they innovate and develop place-based solutions to the biggest challenges posed by climate change and environmental injustice; and Planeteer Alliance, a global network of young people who are putting their passion and impatience for change into climate ACTION for the planet.

CPF was formed in 1991 and was based on the critically acclaimed animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteerswhen it was co-founded by media mogul Ted Turner and series executive producer Barbara Pyle. In 2002, CPF separated from TBS and became a 501(c)3 public charity.

For more information: www.captainplanetfoundation.org

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