BY JASON COHEN
Since becoming a nonprofi
t more than a decade ago,
the Green Bronx Machine has
transformed thousands of lives
in the South Bronx. Recently, the
organization was recognized on
a national level.
On Sept. 28, Classy, a giving
experience platform that enables
nonprofi ts to connect supporters
with the causes they
care about, announced the 2021
Classy Award Winners and the
Green Bronx Machine was selected
out of more than 1,400 applications
as a recipient of the
prestigious Classy Award for Social
Innovation – one of the largest
social impact awards in the
country.
Known as “America’s Favorite
Teacher,” Stephen Ritz,
founder of the Bronx Green Machine,
is responsible for creating
the fi rst edible classroom in the
world, which he has evolved into
the National Health, Wellness
and Learning Center at C.S. 55 in
Claremont, an engaging wonderland
where students and teachers
grow their way. Ritz and his
students have grown more than
100,000 pounds of vegetables in
his South Bronx center, and in
the process, he has increased
school attendance from 40%-
93% daily and helped provide
2,200 youth jobs in the Bronx.
Using a state-of-the-art mobile
classroom kitchen and a
year-round indoor teaching
farm, Green Bronx Machine
teaches local students about
STEM and agricultural production.
In 2020, even amidst the
pandemic environment, Green
Bronx Machine produced 5,000
pounds of vegetables, and his
students have a 91% passing rate
of New York State Science Exams.
“I’m most grateful to Classy
for acknowledging grassroots
organizations like the Green
Bronx Machine,” Ritz said.
Ritz, who is the “oldest sixthgrader
in the world,” has gotten
his fair share of awards over the
years, but told the Bronx Times
he had never heard of Classy
prior to receiving the award.
A lifelong Bronxite, Ritz
got a teaching degree at SUNY
Purchase, but as a young adult
played pro basketball overseas
in Europe. However, he got injured
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O 40 CT. 22-28, 2021 BTR
and called it quits on his
athletic career deciding to return
home to the Bronx. He began
teaching in 1984 and the rest
is history. He taught science for
several years at C.S. 55 and today
is the executive director of the
National Health, Wellness and
Learning Center.
“As I got older, I realized it’s
easier to raise healthy children
than to fi x broken men,” he said.
“For me, you can’t talk about education
if you don’t talk about
opportunity.”
Ritz — tall and skinny — was
once a heavyset guy who ate a lot
of meat, drank a gallon of soda
a day and was called “the big
cheese.” Today, his students are
still shocked when he shows them
old pictures of himself.
While the Green Machine
only became a nonprofi t in 2010,
Ritz has been making a difference
in the South Bronx for decades.
He planted 25,000 fl owers with
ex-cons in 2004; a replica of his
classroom was installed in the US
Green Bronx Machine Founder Stephen Ritz with his students.
Photo courtesy Jesse McElwain
Botanic Gardens in Washington,
D.C; his curriculum is being used
in hundreds of schools across the
United States, and internationally
from Colombia to Dubai, from
Canada to Cairo and beyond.
Additionally, Ritz helped earn
his school the fi rst-ever Citywide
Award of Excellence from
the NYC Strategic Alliance for
Health and directly attributes
these results to growing vegetables
in his school. The National
Association of Secondary School
Principals cited his work and the
Green Bronx Machine as one of
fi ve national exemplars of service
learning.
In an area that is known for
poverty, crime, high obesity, diabetes
and a “school to prison
pipeline,” Ritz takes pride in
what he does. Many of his former
students have gone on to
college, become homeowners,
teachers and practice eating
healthy.
“My favorite days are Mother’s
Day and Father’s Day because
I stay in touch with thousands
of my students,” he said.
From creating community
farms throughout the New York
City Housing Authority and giving
kids a lifeline for the future,
Ritz knows his work is far from
over.
“Here in our little corner of
the South Bronx we’re trying to
change the world,” he said.
Green Bronx Machine to
receive national honor
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