about us
We’re a highly collaborative and supportive team of expert Garden Educators. We are passionate about the connections, growth and learning that takes place in nature.
Our Mission & Vision
We strive to build unique, long-lasting and organic school learning gardens that produce abounding harvests. We will create a space for school staff and students to make connections with themselves, the earth and each other while learning and growing. We will continue to be the number one school garden expert in the North-West Houston area.
Our Values
We aim to deliver the very best Garden Day experience each and every time with highly-qualified Garden Educators, hands-on student experiences, relevant curriculum and dedicated gardening support.
“The Ready to Grow Gardens staff is always prepared, knowledgeable and flexible.”
Elizabeth Franklin
Teacher, CFISD
Do you want to become a Garden Educator?
Applications are open for the 23-24 school year.
Meet the Ready to Grow Gardens Team
Stephanie Baker (Founder and Owner)
Stephanie earned her Texas Master Gardener Certification from the Texas Cooperative Extensive and Harris County Master Gardener Association in June of 2003.
She was named Outstanding Volunteer for the fall class of 2002 in recognition of her outstanding service of over 220 volunteer hours. Her volunteer work was primarily spent with students at Sheridan Elementary where two days a week she taught two hundred third graders how to grow a variety of vegetables out of 70 individual container gardens.
Since that time, she has worked to design and build over 40 other elementary school gardens.
Kara Wolf (Garden Educator and Assistant Garden Day Coordinator)
My first love was flowers. As a child I remember collecting fists full of flowers on neighborhood walks, drawing them in my sketch book as a tween and eventually learning to grow and arrange them as an adult in Conroe, TX where I reside with my husband. The garden quickly became the first and last place that I found myself each day.
Becoming a Garden Educator with RTGG was a natural progression as I have taught in the traditional school setting as a certified Spanish teacher for 4 years and I love students. I have taught Spanish to PreK through Seniors in high school and I love every age. 2023-24 is my fourth year working as a Garden Educator.
I am incredibly excited to get into your school learning gardens and help your students discover the joys of a garden. Planting seeds, discovering critters and harvesting carrots with children, truly, never gets old.
I grew up in New Orleans with my parents and 3 sisters. Our Dad always had a garden in the backyard where we harvested food for our meals. I can still remember my first taste of fresh broccoli. It was so much better than the frozen broccoli we were used to out of a box. I loved spending time outside with my dad and watching him in the garden. He loved gardening so much that as he grew older he installed grab bars on the fence so that he could continue gardening.
I joined the Ready To Grow Gardens team after retiring from my 34 year teaching career. I have taught the majority of my career in the elementary grades. I spent a few years teaching deaf and hearing impaired students and then moved to regular education. Most of my career was spent in CFISD in 2nd, 4th and 5th grades. I spent 11 years teaching in central Pennsylvania where I was the Gifted Support coordinator K-12 in the Bald Eagle Area School District.
This job allows me to continue to teach, but in an outside garden classroom. I love teaching the students about growing their own food and watching nature in action in our butterfly/veggie gardens. I like to watch the students be able to see the progression from seed to table. This will be my fourth year to have the awesome opportunity to bring the Science classroom outside!!
Bella Snider (Garden Educator)
I have always been fascinated by nature. I am from a rural community that is 30 minutes east of Austin called Del Valle, TX. I enjoy camping, hiking, fishing and gardening. Growing up I had my own array of animals including horses, rabbits, parakeets, chickens, pigs and dogs. I now live in Houston with my two dogs Wylie and Hyde. This past May I graduated from Texas A&M University with Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Leadership, Education and Development while minoring in Youth Development.
During my time as a student at Texas A&M, I fell in love with horticulture, food science and gardening. Nearly every horticulture class that was offered I included in my coursework. I have always had a passion for educating future generations about the value of gardening and appreciating the world around us.
I feel so blessed to have found my place with Ready to Grow Gardens. I have always wanted to have an opportunity to continue learning outside of the classroom and with Ready to Grow Gardens I have found that! I am excited to combine my love for the outdoors and for the youth education.
Celise Hamann (Garden Educator)
I have always had a love for the outdoors. I grew up camping most weekends and truly enjoyed being out in nature. Today you can find me in my own yard tending to my flower beds or looking for a new plant to add to my collection.
I retired in 2022 after 27 years of being an elementary classroom educator in Cypress Fairbanks ISD. My career was split between Lieder Elementary and A. Robison Elementary. Even after 27 years, I can say that I still have a passion for teaching. God has blessed me with this opportunity to share my love for gardening with my love of children. I look forward to all the fun garden experiences I will share with them!
Margaret Hernandez (Garden Educator)
I have always loved teaching children about the wonders of nature. After teaching ESL for 15 years, I was drawn to delve further into my passion of teaching about our natural world. For the last 12 years I have taught fourth and fifth graders math and science. My favorite part is when I see awe and curiosity in children when they learn something new. And then, of course, the many questions that follow. I am excited to continue to foster learning how to grow plants and better understand their natural environment.
Maria Paoli-Vega (Garden Educator)
I have always felt like a gardener without a garden. I read gardening blogs, subscribed to dozens of gardening content creators and constantly made plans for everything I wanted to grow. I dreamed of cooking dinner using ingredients from my backyard and making flower arrangements from flowers I grew myself. In 2021 I stepped back from my role as a Military and Family Life Counselor and moved to Houston to pursue my dream.
After breaking ground on m y garden and putting my hands in the soil for the first time, I began searching for a career that would allow me to garden every day. I’m grateful for the opportunity to blend the skills I’ve honed as a counselor, my love of working with children and my desire to garden, as a part of the RTGG team.
I’m stepping into the 2023-24 school year with gratitude and enthusiasm. I am excited to meet the students and teachers. I am most excited to help the students learn science through the various stages of caring for the garden.
Are you ready to join the team? Applications open for the 23-24 school year. We are seeking one part time and one full time outdoor educator.