Captain Planet Foundation and Cox Enterprises bring Project Learning Garden® to Yorkville, Illinois, Macon, Georgia and Lorena, Texas Elementary Schools!
Contest Opens: October 8, 2026
Deadline to Apply: November 15, 2026
Captain Planet Foundation’s (CPF) Project Learning Garden Program is replete with opportunities to support inquiry-based, immersive learning experiences in STEAM education for students of all levels and ages. In conjunction with applied principles of project-based learning, gardens provide teachers and students with outdoor laboratories full of natural phenomena to be observed, explored, questioned, and investigated. Gardens provide meaningful anchors where standard learning objectives merge with real-world experiences, making many of the concepts we teach relevant and relatable to students’ lives.
And let’s not forget the yummy stuff! School gardens are a perfect way to develop young palates for a variety of fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables. CPF’s mobile cooking cart, complete with a Vitamix blender and induction burner, provide educators with everything they need to have a harvest and tasting event in the garden or classroom year round.
This partnership brings to life Cox Enterprises’ commitment to empowering people to build a better future for the next generation. Cox employees may volunteer to help install and harvest the gardens at all schools selected under this program, and your school may be selected for a special media day and tasting event!
Cox Enterprises PLG schools will receive:
- Five raised garden beds
- Fully-equipped Mobile Cooking Cart to prepare garden-fresh recipes
- Access to CPF’s online garden-based lessons, spanning all content areas and grade levels
- Materials and supplies to support project-based lessons and garden-based activities
- Online professional development and training for teachers
- Strategies for summer garden maintenance
- Eligible for a Cox Associate volunteer day for garden installation
Package valued at $7,500
To be eligible, an Entrant must be nominating an accredited elementary school located in the following Territories:
Cherryville, North Carolina: Within a 25-mile radius of the city center.
Hillsborough, New Jersey: Within a 25-mile radius of the city center.
Lorena, Texas: Within a 25-mile radius of the city center.
Macon, Georgia: Within a 25-mile radius of the city center.
Yorkville, Illinois: Within a 25-mile radius of the city center.
Cox Enterprises is a global privately-held company that owns, operates and invests in businesses across multiple industries, including automotive, greenhouse agriculture, cleantech, software, outdoor recreation and journalism. Guided by its purpose to build a better future for this generation and the next, Cox’s diverse family of businesses deliver solutions to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Since its founding in 1898, Cox Enterprises has been fueled by a relentless focus on innovation and a deep commitment to people, the planet and progress. To learn more about Cox’s history and how it’s shaping what’s next, visit CoxEnterprises.com .
For Cox Associates – Nominate a School
Cox Associates — do you know of an elementary school (K-5) in the greater Cherryville, North Carolina, Hillsborough, New Jersey, Lorena, Texas, Macon, Georgia and Yorkville, Illinois regions that you think would benefit from an awesome schoolyard garden program? Nominate a school to receive Project Learning Garden using the form below and we will send them an invitation to apply and give you a shout out for your nomination!