_sf_async_config.useCanonical = true; I stood up and walked over to a group of youth, and soon found myself in the thick of the story I’d hoped to find. .cz-outer { In every school district? Studies confirm the stories. 20 Gardens for Learning: Linking Gardens to School Curriculum Teachers use the garden as a meaningful tool for integrating science with core curriculum. Kids get food.”. margin-left: -40px; She talked about community connections, school spirit, food, and health. Nearly 50 people had turned out to weed a school garden on a winter morning? Small groups of children can each tend to their own bed, or each grade can be responsible for one activity, such as tilling, watering or weeding the garden. With degrees from North Carolina State University and Bowdoin College, he also has experience as a chef and line cook, as an on-site farm manager, a statistician with the NC Central Cancer Registry, and a framing carpenter. Here’s another thing: Drawing on the support of folks like Head, every school in Warren County except one has a garden. For the past school year, I’ve been taking groups of students to the garden every week, where we learn about everything from plant life to how to properly use a knife. } Emily Jackson works for the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) as the Program Director for their 12-year-old Growing Minds Farm to School program. I’d driven up to Warrenton from Raleigh for a volunteer workday in a rare kind of place: a GAP certified (Good Agricultural Practice) school garden, initiated by a high school garden club, where collards and cabbage can be grown using state-certified food safety practices and then sold into the Warren County School cafeterias. Schools gardens can provide the chance to experience vine-ripened goodness while meeting the goals of the curriculum. margin-left: -150px; Brynjegard (2001) writes of three elementary schools in California that have school gardens and evaluates the environmental awareness of the students of these schools. ASAP has been collecting surveys that ask parents how often their children come home from school and mention what they did in the school garden. loadChartbeat(); A natural opportunity for garden-to-table learning comes when school gardens sell directly into schools, but this isn’t an option for the vast majority of NC school gardens. But what she really emphasized? _sf_async_config.domain = 'ednc.org'; On nice days, I could just lay a blanket down and have reading time with my class in the garden.”. School gardens also foster positive social change. Before launching into food systems work, he spent four and a half years in architectural practice in Boston and NC. & Dixon, … It can and should be a rich part of your program's daily curriculum delivery. var e = document.createElement('script'); I met a woman named Amanda Lee Brown at the workday who believes the answer is yes. It is an effort to get children out of doors and away from books. Now I was starting to understand what motivated this diverse crowd to come out on a cold morning. And that last one is being planned. But it’s a natural fit. The direct educational opportunities that all of these gardens allow, however, is not the end of the story. Often, you get grandparents involved, too,” she says. Gardens containing fruit and vegetables can help to revise attitudes about particular foods - students are more likely to try eating vegetables they have grown themselves and to ask for them at home. e.async = true; While pointing at the 10-foot deer fence, the greenhouse, the various plots, and the school building itself, they talked about how this garden has been pulling people together from its inception. It’s easy to find similar programs across the country. Through gardening, students become responsible caretakers. Skelly, Sonja and Jennifer Bradley. function googleTranslateElementInit() { “School gardens are the best overlap of bringing health and education together,” Emily Jackson says, “which so rarely happens. School systems … use growers that are GAP certified as a way to ensure the safety of the food they purchase and serve. Gardening can provide students with hands-on learning opportunities while increasing environmental awareness and vital experience in problem-solving. e.type = 'text/javascript'; In a school garden, children are learning to grow more than just plants. Researchers have specifically studied the effects of gardening on environmental awareness. Katherine Gill, Project Manager and landscape architect at the Hub Farm, says, “Everything we do ties into science, health, nutrition, and physical activity, but we are also able to tie in literacy, math, arts, music. . Where the message I heard in Warren County emphasized building community, food awareness, and the local economy, the school gardens in Davis “support California’s academic content standards and provide important hands-on learning experiences for students.”. The students experience this directly when they plant seeds, care for the plants, harvest the crops, prepare the produce, and then consume it as part of our Food For Thought organic school lunch program. Research has shown improved academic achievement when a school garden is integrated into students’ curriculum. This nursery operator’s ambitious vision includes a garden and greenhouse in every school in Wilson, Wayne, and Nash Counties that connect leadership, technology, and experiential learning with the food and health needs of future generations. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 102(1), 9. Tim Williams with Warren County’s Working Landscapes sees kids of all ages disconnected from food. Amid a rehabilitated barn, an innovative floating classroom, chickens, and row crops, this project serves 70-300 students per week from kindergarten to 12th grade, using a range of agricultural activities along with extensive woods and three ponds to engage students in a wide educational spectrum. Really? Kids get excited about being in a garden, learning to pick and eat fresh food, and will pay attention to lessons if they know they’ll get to pick beans or carrots or kale at the end of them. Start small. var n = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; This apart, the mindset of children, especially in the urban areas, would alter from being consumer-based which is typically concerned with the end-product. Learn and expand as you go. Also important to consider is the training needed to make sure that every person growing or harvesting certified food is up to speed on the procedures. At Warren County High School, the whole garden club spent hours learning all the ins and outs before the state inspector came to audit them, so that their harvesting process was precisely performed. Community building, educational opportunities, food access, and the health of students and families all come through the school gardens. There were lots of kids, some teachers, community members, and some volunteers that must have been upwards of seventy years old. Additionally, Williams, D.R. Hands-on, applied learning really allows students to experience a full breadth of learning and engagement.”, Numerous studies confirm the power of garden-based learning that results in increases in science achievement scores, greater health and food knowledge, and improvements in general learning outcomes. @media (min-width:667px) and (max-width: 990px){ Primary school students can develop skills in leadership, communication, team building and civic engagement through inter-curricular programs in agricultural education. School gardening supports many government priorities like sustainability, healthy eating, food in schools and Eco schools. Letting them shape up smaller model landscape designs should inculcate in them design knowledge, while also developing in them an aesthetic sensitivity. In her twelve years with ASAP’s Growing Minds, and with her experience as a classroom teacher, what does Emily Jackson think about getting school gardens going? (2000). layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.SIMPLE, Michele McKinley of Wake County’s Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) sees both sides of this situation as well. The gardens in schools teach children the importance and need of sustainable agriculture, applied mathematics, and science in an atmosphere of gardening where they need to participate. She goes on to tell me something that seems hard to square with teachers’ workloads. Students’ life skills, social skills, behaviors, and self-understanding all improve with time spent in school gardens. .cz-outer { Here is how a school garden and gardening creates consciousness in school kids about trees and greenery: School gardening assists the children in their process of learning while modifying their behavior. Their study isn’t complete yet, but Jackson says that the patterns they are finding in school-to-home garden sharing are “fabulous.” When kids spend time in a school garden it is one of their favorite things to tell their parents about. We all know, she says, “That teachers are overburdened and asked to do too many things.”. Above all, they must be an educational instrument targeting not only children, but also their families, the community, and the school itself. enabling children to interact with nature, to learn about the ecological cycle. (2002). “Good food prepares kids for more curiosity, and when kids grow vegetables they’ll want to eat vegetables,” Brown says, echoing the “grow kale, eat kale” philosophy of Ron Finley. There is another very important need that the school gardens address when they grow vegetables, herbs, and fruits. Gardening is a great form of stress relief. 10/23/2019 Outdoors is an essential place for children's learning. School garden food can reach people through food donations, direct sales to consumers, or when GAP-certified gardens can sell right into the school cafeteria. “We know that children are not getting the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables daily,” says McKinley, “School gardens can be a really important strategy to change that.”. In this way, the multiplier effect on production within the community is likely to be more important, in terms of production, than the school garden … Gardening can be done during class time or as an after school activity. Across the raised bed was the younger brother of one of the high school garden club members. When I visited the Philippines in 1994, I saw a garden in every schoolyard. _sf_async_config.authors = 'Erin White'; } benefits of gardening and addresses the importance of gardening in the classroom. Researched Benefits of Gardening Nutrition School gardens have helped improve nutrition in the schools. The importance of school gardens as perceived by Florida elementary school teachers. autoDisplay: false The Food Growing in Schools Taskforcemakes clear the wide ranging benefits of school gardens: learning, increased wellbeing and understanding of the … Leadership and Team Building. n.parentNode.insertBefore(e, n); With this program, children will be inspired to live out an environmental and social ethic of stewardship that the world needs. Kids get excited and can get their families involved in gardening. Klemmer et al (2005) demonstrated that third, fourth and fifth grade students who participated in school garden activities scored significantly higher on science achievement tests compared to the same grade level students who did not. . Developing design knowledge and aesthetic sensitivity. “Working together in gardens builds relationships,” he says, “that overcome assumptions and help bring down walls between us.”. Your email address will not be published. If they grow tomatoes, they eat tomatoes. Erin is the interim chair of the Capital Area Food Network, a board member of Wake County’s Advocates for Health in Action, and the proud father of a six-month old boy. It’s a way to bring hands-on experiences to any subject your child may be involved with, and it also teaches them responsibility and the value of hard work. To start, GAP certification has costs associated with the audit and travel for the inspector, though the state offers some cost-sharing opportunities. Cris Laurens, a teacher at Raleigh’s Powell Elementary School, shares similar stories related to her work in Powell’s garden. They will possess the practical knowledge of such factors, like the ‘pH level’ of soil. To explain the latter part of the sentence, it is important to know that consciousness about the need of trees and greenery changes the behavior of the children towards trees. Gardens allow learning through inquiry. NC schools can only serve GAP-certified produce, grown in state inspected farms and gardens. And as a teacher? _sf_async_config.flickerControl = false; They get it.”– Emily Jackson. Remember how I said the Warren County High School garden was rare? School garden is especially effective in urban areas. Garden-enhanced nutrition curriculum improves fourth-grade school children’s knowledge of nutrition and preferences for some vegetables. School Gardens help to extend the classroom beyond traditional settings by expanding it outside. Next to him was the NC FoodCorps fellow, Caroline Stover, and her Warren County colleague, FoodCorps service member Rachel Head. margin-left: -120px; They explained the hard parts of starting the garden three years ago, and how the experience has changed their attitudes towards food, nutrition, and even towards their hometown. Warren and Stokes counties have schools gardens that have achieved certification, and the DPS Hub Farm is planning to become GAP certified. The process is not without expense, however. Having a school garden and taking them to participate in activities of gardening would make the children learn the importance of trees and in the process they would learn how to take care of plants and trees. School gardening provides children with opportunities to gain extra outdoor exercise whilst teaching them useful development skills. students to internalize important ecological ideas. She starts by saying that the teachers’ ability to make things happen is critical for success. ASAP is clearly bringing a holistic, “all hands on deck” game plan to their Farm to School work. Going a lot further back, school gardens were quite common in Victorian times in England as part of nature study classes, during the world wars in many countries where food shortages oc… Mostly teachers get gardens going.” Teachers, already overworked, are nevertheless the ones we need to look to if school gardens are going to be successful. Teaching gardening is a wonderful way to add another layer to your child’s homeschool curriculum. Should every school have a garden? Roseway Waldorf School provides healthy outdoor activity for learners and brings balance to the heavier academic activities that take place in the classroom. These high schoolers were in the garden club at Warren County High School. “Teachers are most often the garden champions, the do-ers who can make it happen. They said they now saw themselves as part of the future of this rural county, as part of a new food economy and a strong community. With only a little web research, I learned that the school system in Davis, CA, the home of agricultural research giant UC-Davis, has a farm-to-school program with a garden in every school. Start small. There are currently only two GAP school gardens in NC that are certified to sell into school cafeterias. Numerous studies confirm the power of garden-based learning that results in increases in science achievement scores, greater health and food knowledge, and improvements in general learning outcomes. Although science and nutrition are the focus of many garden programs, curriculum ties can also be made to the subjects of language arts, math, science, social studies and art. Community building, educational opportunities, food access, and the health of students and families all come through the school gardens. When students plan, plant, care for, and analyze their gardens, science and } “Schools can be scary, uncomfortable places for some parents. margin-right: -40px; AHA has been involved in school garden promotion for over six years in Wake County. School systems (and many other large buyers) use growers that are GAP certified as a way to ensure the safety of the food they purchase and serve. pageLanguage: 'en', margin-right: -15px; Jackson says that starting a garden involves upfront work that can’t be avoided. In addition to an on-site farmstand and occasional sales at the Durham County Health Department, “we sell some produce to local restaurants,” Katherine Gill says, “and are also starting to work more directly with DPS Nutritional Services to do taste tests and family dinners at school cafeterias.”. margin-left: -15px; Warren County Schools are well on their way to 100 percent school gardens, but how important is that? In a school garden, school children are set to work cultivating flower and vegetable gardens. By cooperating with each other, peers achieve almost immediate visible results from their own hard work.”. Your email address will not be published. } Where else is this happening? Reverend Willliam Kearney, a consultant and former cop that I met at the Warren County High School garden, sees kids learning patience and overcoming disciplinary challenges by spending time in school gardens. The rise of gardening in schools has been quite staggering over the past decade. } Don’t start with a set garden curriculum; allow teachers to integrate the garden setting into what they are already doing. ASAP programs reach 23 counties in Western NC as well as portions of South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. margin-right: -120px; This kind of collective garden building is a first step into what Jackson sees as another hidden benefit of gardens: they can help parents feel comfortable at school. Gardens encourage experiential learning and teaching to all learning styles. The two main objectives of this curriculum are to (1) teach upper elementary schoolchildren and their caregivers the importance of making healthful food choices and the way in which to do so; and (2) improve children’s preferences for fruits and vegetables by giving children an opportunity to work with the land and grow their own produce. In addition to environmental benefits, gardening has a big effect on children and early years pupils as they go through physical, emotional and social development. /** CONFIGURATION END **/ Just like adults, kids experience stress and they need an … As more small farms and school gardens become GAP-certified, more school systems will be able to include diverse local produce in their nutrition programs. Partway through the morning, among rich soil and over-wintered cabbages, with my hands full of weeds and my body starting to warm from the activity, I straightened up and took a good look at the people around me in the garden. School gardens, he says, are ways to get them engaged with food. Required fields are marked *. .cz-outer { The physical activity of working the garden has a directly beneficial effect and many pupils calm after being able to direct their […] Garden education seems to be highly undervalued in our society compared to standardized curriculum, yet it seems to provide broader life lessons than classroom curriculum. According to AHA’s Michele McKinley, this unique collaboration provided, “service for the Greenscape folks, applied learning opportunities for the NSCU students, and school students and staff benefiting from a garden –a learning tool—they can use for a long time.”. © 2020 Inhabit Blog. © 2021 EducationNC. To go to a more prosaic level, as the children are involved in activities of horticulture, their interest and enthusiasm in the subjects of science would grow. McKinley stresses the need for teachers to see a garden as a learning tool and overall benefit to their day, instead of avoiding garden use “because they are feeling like it’s ‘one more thing to do.'”. Gardening covers so many parts of the curriculum, maths, science, art, physical exercise and very importantly, team work. “The garden was my favorite because of its constancy through all the seasons. I asked Jackson why school gardens were so important as part of their approach. var _sf_async_config = window._sf_async_config = (window._sf_async_config || {}); Gardening enhances the quality of life in numerous ways: providing fresh food, exercise and health benefits, opportunities for multi-generational and life-long learning, creating pleasing landscapes and improved environment, and bringing people together. They have an opportunity to engage in agricultural practices on a small scale, learning about the responsibilities and impacts of land cultivation. Jackson recalls her days as a classroom teacher. })(); All rights reserved. Rachel Head, the local FoodCorps service member, said it this way: “Today is a perfect illustration of how school gardens can interact positively with a community. Jackson’s work at ASAP also includes some hard data. To find out what was going on in Western NC, I called up Emily Jackson, who filled in the blanks. Planting these in the school gardens would teach the children that foods do not originate in the plastic wraps and shelves in the departmental store. In a study done about the effects of a school garden on students’ consumption of fruit and vegetables, Kids get excited about being in a … Practical gardening skills strengthen hope and our ability to make a positive difference. Emily Jackson agrees, and sees intergenerational excitement happening as well. Erin White The school garden is an outgrowth of regular school work. There are undoubtedly a number of reasons for creating gardens in school and the most obvious among them all is to have shady trees by ground, and bushes or shrubs that should screen the street. In every school district? new google.translate.TranslateElement({ Goals of school garden programs often include: Providing opportunities for hands-on learning, inquiry, observation and experimentation across the curriculum. In 2013-14, Jackson’s team worked with 120 schools, with all ages of students. GAP stands for Good Agricultural Practice, and the two GAP certified school gardens are located in Stokes County and Warren County.