The Tech Village Inc. is a nonprofit organization focused on hands-on learning, agriculture, entrepreneurship and healthy families.
Our work has grown from experience. Over time, we learned that education, nutrition, practical skills and opportunity are deeply connected. That understanding helped shape the direction of The Tech Village and led to our work at Gold Circle Gardens.
What We Learned
During our earlier STEAM partnership, we began to recognize how often food insecurity and poor nutrition were affecting the children we served. Hunger and limited access to nutritious food appeared alongside challenges with attention, participation and learning.
That experience changed the way we approached education.
We transitioned from traditional meals and snacks to an on-site, chef-led nutrition program centered around fresh, thoughtfully prepared food. We observed changes. Children became more engaged, their attention and behavior improved, and many developed an unexpected enthusiasm for what they called “real food.”
Something else happened as well: they enjoyed growing the food they ate.
Gardening was no longer separate from education. Growing, preparing and eating food became part of the learning experience itself. Agriculture naturally connected science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics with nutrition, responsibility, entrepreneurship and everyday life.
Those experiences helped shape the direction of The Tech Village today.
From STEAM to Agriculture and Opportunity
Our roots in STEAM education remain an important part of who we are. We simply learned that the “A” could mean more than Arts.
For The Tech Village, A also means Agriculture.
Agriculture gives us a practical way to connect education with real life. It creates opportunities to teach science, technology, problem-solving, nutrition, food preservation, responsibility, entrepreneurship and workforce skills in ways people can see, touch and experience.
Why Gold Circle Gardens
Gold Circle Gardens gives The Tech Village a place to put those lessons into practice.
Our agricultural site near Sapulpa, Oklahoma provides opportunities to grow nutritious food, learn sustainable agricultural practices, develop practical skills and explore entrepreneurship connected to agriculture.
We are working to create an inclusive environment where children, adults, seniors and individuals with disabilities can participate meaningfully in gardening, food preservation, agricultural education and workforce development.
Our Vision
Our vision is to create a community learning environment where people can grow food, build useful skills, improve access to healthy foods and explore ways to turn knowledge into opportunity.
We believe strong communities are built when people have access to practical knowledge, meaningful participation and the tools to create something of their own.
Through The Tech Village and Gold Circle Gardens, we are building opportunities for people to learn, grow and create healthier futures for themselves, their families and their communities.