Ruthe Deskin student farmpreneurs show off their school spirit during the Giant Student Farmers Market on April 22, 2026.
On Earth Day 2026, Downtown Summerlin became more than a marketplace. It became a living classroom filled with young entrepreneurs who had spent months growing food, building businesses, practicing their sales pitches, and discovering what they were capable of creating.
What began in school gardens and hydroponic labs across the Las Vegas Valley arrived in full bloom at Green Our Planet’s Giant Student Farmers Market: a joyful, sun-filled reminder that when students are trusted with real responsibility, they rise to the occasion.
By the numbers:
- $19,211 generated for school garden and hydroponics programs
- 57 schools represented
- 570 student Farmpreneurs participating
Together, students generated $19,211, with every dollar going directly back into their Green Our Planet school garden and hydroponics programs. But the numbers tell only part of the story. What students earned that day was bigger than revenue. They earned confidence, experience, and earned the unforgettable knowledge that they can grow something meaningful and share it with the world.
More Than a Market Day
These students didn’t just grow food. They grew businesses. For months leading up to the market, Farmpreneurs across 57 schools tended their plants, created their business plans, practised their pitches, and learned what it takes to bring a product from seed to sale. By the time they arrived at Downtown Summerlin, they were ready.
Together, they earned $19,211 — every dollar of which goes directly back into their school garden and hydroponics programs. That’s not pocket change. That’s proof of concept. That’s a generation of young people learning that they can build something, grow something, and sustain something that matters.
Customers walk through the aisles of the Giant Student Farmers Market at Downtown Summerlin as students advertise their products.
The Schools That Stood Out
Every school that walked through those market gates deserves recognition. But each year, a few go above and beyond, and this year was no different.
Every market, schools compete to win the following coveted Green Our Planet awards:
Most Garden Team Spirit: WYLEES! Runner-up: Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary
Best Booth Decor: Frias Elementary! Runner-up: Roger Bryan ES
Most Unique Product: MJ Christensen Elementary for their Pool Noodle Cactus! Runner-up: Gene Ward ES for cyanotype photographs
Heaviest Vegetable: French ES for a whopping 33.8lb beet! Runner-up: Bartlett Elementary with a 22 lb beet.
We want to extend a special thank you to our judges Ally Fary (Anthem), Kallie Peeples (Cox), Paul Beauparlant (Clark County School District Community Engagement), and Tricia Braxton Perry (University of Nevada Reno Cooperative Extension) for having the hardest job of the day: choosing just 4 winners from 55 amazing schools!
WYLEES wins the Most Garden Team Spirit award as Green Our Planet Co-Founders Ciara Byrne, left, and Kim MacQuarrie, right, celebrate.
Frias Elementary students win Best Booth Decor with their Wonderland themed booth.
The Partners Who Made It Possible
A market like this does not grow on its own. It takes a community of believers, partners who understand that school gardens are not just places where students learn about plants. They are places where students learn leadership, responsibility, entrepreneurship, and hope.
To our sponsors and partners: thank you for investing in more than a single event. You are investing in curiosity, confidence, and a generation of young people who now know they can grow something extraordinary.
Presenting Sponsor
Credit One
Partners and Sponsors
Anthem
Clark County School District
Downtown Summerlin
Las Vegas Aces
Sands
Western Alliance Bank
Aristocrat
Cox
Howard Hughes
Lazy Dog
United Way Southern Nevada
What Comes Next
The Green Our Planet Giant Student Farmers Market may last one day, but the learning it represents lasts all year.
Thanks to a recent $500,000 USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program grant, Green Our Planet is expanding this model beyond Nevada, giving thousands more students across the country the opportunity to become Farmpreneurs in their own communities.
The harvest is just beginning. And we can’t wait to see what grows next.
The Green Our Planet Team celebrates another successful Giant Student Farmers Market!
