PLOW FORWARD: New Mount Rose Relaunches Historic Buffalo Soldiers 4-H STEM Club to Grow the Garden—and the Next Generation in 76104.
PLOW FORWARD: New Mount Rose Relaunches Historic Buffalo Soldiers 4-H STEM Club to Grow the Garden—and the Next Generation in 76104. 4H Link: https://youtu.be/zR9qlKmGfk0?is=w7rzS4GAromGbKqp
Scripture: Luke 9:62
“No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church is putting its hands back to the plow.
In 2018, New Mount Rose launched the Buffalo Soldiers 4-H STEM Club in partnership with Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension in Tarrant County. It became the nation’s first 4-H club named in honor of the legendary Buffalo Soldiers of the United States Army (https://northdallasgazette.com/2018/12/31/ft-worth-church-and-prairie-view-establish-4-h-club-named-in-honor-of-buffalo-soliders/).
Now, because of the tremendous opportunities before the church and the growing needs of the community, New Mount Rose is relaunching this historic program with a broader, intergenerational vision.
The relaunched Buffalo Soldiers 4-H STEM Club will help expand the church’s gardens and support several ministries and community initiatives, including:
- The Write After School Program
- Safe Senior Spaces
- Faith in the Farm
- Funkytown Food Forest
- Peace From a Pallet®
- Operation Chicken Coop
- Emergency Preparedness and Readiness projects
The goal is to bring children, families and senior adults together through agriculture, gardening, STEM education, leadership development, healthy living and community preparedness.
“This is another powerful way for us to keep the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers alive while training, educating and developing the next generation of strong leaders,” said Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr., senior pastor of New Mount Rose. “We are putting our hands to the plow, and we are not looking back.”
The 4-H program serves young people in rural, suburban and urban communities throughout the nation. Its educational model is rooted in learning by doing, giving students opportunities to discover their interests, develop leadership skills and turn knowledge into practical action (https://youtu.be/mozqGvF3V48?is=CRwmb49VXiKI7lAR).
Through meetings, demonstrations and hands-on projects, club members can explore agriculture, animal science, gardening, nutrition, food safety, environmental stewardship, robotics, computer science and other STEM-related fields. Students may also participate in educational events and competitions at the county level, with opportunities to advance to district and state competitions.
At New Mount Rose, those experiences will extend beyond the classroom and into the soil.
Young people will plant gardens, grow fresh vegetables, care for chickens, explore the science of healthy soil and learn how locally grown food can strengthen an entire community. They will also gain practical skills in teamwork, communication, leadership, entrepreneurship and emergency preparedness.
Senior adults participating through Safe Senior Spaces will have opportunities to share their knowledge, experience and wisdom with younger generations. Children will learn from seniors, seniors will remain active and connected, and both generations will work together to serve their families and neighborhood.
This promises to be a fun-filled, faith-centered and educational partnership that grows food, develops leaders and builds stronger relationships across generations.
Growing Opportunity in 76104
The Buffalo Soldiers 4-H STEM Club is housed in the heart of Fort Worth’s 76104 ZIP code—a community that has faced persistent challenges involving food insecurity, limited access to fresh produce and serious health disparities.
The club will help transform those challenges into opportunities.
By introducing young people to urban agriculture, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, New Mount Rose hopes to show students that they can become more than consumers of food and technology.
They can become growers.
They can become creators.
They can become problem-solvers.
They can become entrepreneurs.
They can become producers.
“We are committed to rearing our own to succeed while raising our own to serve,” Pastor Tatum said. “The Buffalo Soldiers 4-H STEM Club will open doors for brilliant students and their families throughout inner-city Fort Worth. We want our young people to understand that a future beginning in a garden can carry them anywhere in the world.”
From the Garden to Community Preparedness
The club’s mission will reach beyond gardening and agriculture.
Through New Mount Rose’s Emergency Preparedness and Readiness projects, participants will learn how to prepare their homes, families, church and community for severe weather, power outages, food shortages and other emergencies.
Young people and senior adults will work together to develop emergency plans, assemble preparedness supplies, learn basic safety procedures and understand how gardens, food preservation and community cooperation can strengthen a neighborhood during times of crisis.
The same hands that plant seeds can prepare emergency supplies.
The same minds that learn agricultural science can help solve community problems.
The same young people who study leadership can become the leaders their neighborhood needs.
Building a Community of Partners
New Mount Rose will seek support from partners across Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas and the nation, including:
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
- Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension
- Tarrant County 4-H
- Texas Buffalo Soldiers Association
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Buffalo Soldiers Program
- Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office
- United States Department of Agriculture
- Land-grant colleges and universities
- Local farmers, ranchers, educators and community organizations
The original Buffalo Soldiers 4-H STEM Club enrolled more than 15 students. Through this relaunch, New Mount Rose hopes to engage more than 100 young people from Fort Worth’s urban neighborhoods while creating meaningful opportunities for parents, volunteers and senior adults to participate alongside them.
Growing More Than Vegetables
The vision is bigger than growing vegetables.
It is about growing knowledge.
Growing confidence.
Growing leadership.
Growing opportunity.
Growing healthy families.
Growing prepared communities.
And growing young people who are equipped to serve their families, strengthen their neighborhoods and meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.
The Buffalo Soldiers blazed trails across the American frontier. Now, the young Buffalo Soldiers of New Mount Rose will carry that legacy forward—one seed, one student, one senior and one community at a time.
It is time to put our hands to the plow.
It is time to grow the garden.
It is time to grow our children.
It is time to strengthen our seniors.
It is time to prepare our community.
IT IS TIME TO PLOW FORWARD.
For information about becoming a member, volunteer, partner or sponsor of the New Mount Rose Buffalo Soldiers 4-H STEM Club, contact:
Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.
New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church
2864 Mississippi Avenue
Fort Worth, Texas 76104
Phone: 817-966-7625
Email: newmtrosembc@gmail.com
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