Funding Your School Garden Program Workshop 10-28-08 - Registration Form
Resource List: Garden-based Learning Resources
for High School Grades 9-12
School Gardens in El Dorado County
With our rural atmosphere and the many outdoor opportunities in El Dorado County, you may wonder how our local students would benefit from school garden programs. Answer: for the same reasons that urban students need garden-based learning opportunities! Please read on....
A school garden provides teaching opportunities to incorporate hands-on activities for a diversity of interdisciplinary, standards-based lessons. The garden engages students by providing a dynamic environment to observe, discover, experiment, nurture and learn. Through the garden, students gain an understanding of ecosystems, appreciation for food origins, and knowledge of plant and animal life cycles. Experience with food and growing systems is especially valuable to local students in nurturing their understanding of the importance of agriculture and the natural environment in our community.
Read more on how school gardens support academic achievement, healthy lifestyles, environmental stewardship and community & social development at the California School Garden Network website "Introduction to School Gardens": http://www.csgn.org/intro.php
How can garden programs improve academic performance?
Gardening with children has the potential to improve academic performance, increase ecological and agricultural literacy, and improve dietary habits of children. Read more regarding research and policy supporting garden-based learning at http://www.csgn.org/research.php
We want to start a school garden but have no idea where to start!
There is no "one way" to start a garden-based learning program. California school garden programs range from acres growing food to supply the cafeteria to a sole container growing flowers outside of a classroom. The following are some ideas of where to start:
Gardens for Learning - Creating and Sustaining Your School Garden
California School Garden Network
Available free to teachers! Also downloadable at:
http://www.csgn.org/publications.php
Garden of Learning Curriculum - Developed by Kelli Wessman, local school garden advocate and expert
http://www.gardenoflearningK6.com
Getting Started-A Guide for Creating School Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms
Life Lab Science Program 1997, Reprinted 2006
http://www.lifelabstore.org/activity.html
How can our school fund a school garden program?
Gardens for Learning: Creating and Sustaining Your School Garden Chapter 6 - Finding Supplies and Funding Your Garden (this link will take you to the California School Garden Network website) lays out many strategies that schools use to support their gardens.
California School Garden Network - Resources Grants & Fundraising Section at: http://www.csgn.org
What local resources are available to school administrators, teachers, parent and community volunteers?
The School Garden Network of El Dorado County (SGNEDC), formed in 2006, is a local group of garden-based learning supporters and experts. The group includes the El Dorado County Farm Bureau, El Dorado County Office of Education, Ag in the Classroom, University of California Cooperative Extension, El Dorado County Public Health, UCCE Master Gardeners, El Dorado Irrigation District and school gardening coordinators and experts. For more information or to get involved contact us at schoolgardennetworkedc@ucdavis.edu or call Wendy West, UCCE (530) 621-5533.
SGNEDC projects include: 1) surveying schools to document the current use of school garden programs in our area; 2) producing a quarterly e-newsletter (subscribe at schoolgardennetworkedc@ucdavis.edu ); 3) providing free workshops for teachers and volunteers on how to start and maintain garden-based learning programs; and 4) providing guidance to school's applying for grant funding through California Instructional School Garden Grants (AB 1535).
The UCCE Master Gardener Program offers school garden consultants to assist in establishing and maintaining school gardens. Contact them at (530)621-5512 or at: http://ceeldorado.ucdavis.edu/Master%5FGardener - see "Youth Gardening Consultant" on the left sidebar.
For a wonderful article about school gardening, written by Master Gardener Robin Stanley, click on this link "School Gardens - The Interest is Growing."
What is a school garden and how can garden-based instruction help students?