Maple Grove School Garden School Garden Meeting Agenda

Maple Grove School Garden

School Garden Meeting Agenda Introduction (Liz Renneker – School Garden Co-chair) • Mission & Vision • What has been done to date? • Benefits Jeffco School Gardens (Emily O’Winter – District Healthy Schools Coordinator) • • • Why School Gardens? History of Gardens in Jeffco Typical progression of a garden Question and Answers about school gardens Jeffco Garden Curriculum Financial Support Requirements (Liz Renneker) • Funding Requirements • Construction Plan

School Garden Mission Our mission is to work together as a school community to provide experiential learning that will enrich and support our academic curriculum while promoting healthy living and teaching life long skills.

School Garden Vision • Building a successful garden will give Maple Grove: • Multiple raised beds filled with produce, herbs, and flowers • An outdoor extension of the classroom as teachers and students will utilize the space to enrich and provide hands on learning in all subject curriculum. • An opportunity for children to harvest food from the garden to enjoy in recipes and cafeteria salad bar • Teach children where food originates and provide life long health habits to combat our nation’s obesity epidemic • After school garden clubs to expand learning in the garden • Farmers’ Market to teach economics, marketing, sustainability • Potential for increased parent engagement

School Garden Vision ∙Students will be involved in the planning ∙Students and teachers will be excited at the opportunity to take learning outside, breathe in fresh air, and observe life in the garden ∙Students will learn to appreciate nature, dig in the dirt, witness science before their own eyes ∙ Evolve into indoor growers inside the classroom- seed starters, small greenhouses

Steps taken thus far: March 2014 – • School garden proposal was introduced to the PTA board and Mr. Stone • The PTA Board reviewed it and decided to go forward with the project • Meetings held with representatives from Mitchell and Prospect Valley to learn more about their school gardens. Various school gardens were toured in person April 2014 – • Meeting with Emily O’Winter, Jeffco Healthy Schools Coordinator to learn about Jeffco’s school garden guidelines and programs • District paperwork was started • Meeting with Patti Fields, Maple Grove Facilities Manager considering logistics • Committee meeting including Mr. Stone, Mrs. Ramaker (teacher representative), and parents to discuss site locations and fundraising/sponsorships • Attended the School Garden Summit to learn more about starting and sustaining gardens in Jeff. Co. Respresentatives at the conference included Emily O’Winter, Whole Foods Kids Foundation, Slow Food Denver, Denver Urban Gardens

• May 2014 Met with a local gardener to discuss location, layout, and budget of contracting design and layout. Services are very pricey so it was decided that we will look harder for a community member willing and able to help. • List of businesses to approach for support formed. • June 2014 Multiple grant applications written and submitted. • Application for Whole Foods Bag Donation program submitted and awarded! • Shop Whole Foods Colfax, bring your reusable bags, and donate the bag credit to our garden!

Denver Public Schools with gardens Over 80 schools in DPS have school gardens DPS food safety protocol for garden to cafeteria is now a national model

A look at area school gardens Mitchell School Garden, Golden, CO

Photo credit: Denver Urban Gardens

School Gardens Impact on Academic Performance • Boost Science achievement scores - Science educators have long recognized the value of school gardens in motivating students to study science. Recent studies show that school gardening programs also boost students’ scores on science achievement tests (Klemmer, Waliczek, Zajicek, 2005). • Develops critical thinking – A study of 3 rd and 4 th graders involved in a school garden program supports students inquiry, connection to natural world and engages students in process of formulating meaningful questions (Habib & Doherty, 2007). • Expands experiential learning - Students involved with school gardens generally take pleasure in learning and show positive attitudes towards education (Canaris, 1995; Dirks & Orvis, 2005).

Benefits of a School Garden • Build a sense of community • Observe small seeds turn into food • Instill appreciation and respect for nature that lasts into adulthood • • Improve social skills and behavior • Students who participate in school gardens report eating healthier snacks • Students who garden are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables • Students tend to learn more and better when they are actively involved in the learning process

Jeffco School Gardens Emily O’Winter: District Healthy Schools Coordinator

Jeffco School Gardens Why School Gardens? • School Climate and Culture • Parent Involvement • Enhanced Instructional Opportunities • Understanding of food systems • Increased consumption of fruits and veggies • Increased likelihood of lifetime gardening • Decreased sedentary time

Jeffco School Gardens History of Gardens in Jeffco • 33 School Gardens in Jeffco (3 are green houses) • Partners: • • Slow Food Denver Urban Gardens Jefferson County Public Health CSU Extension Office • Garden to Cafeteria • Garden Curriculum

Jeffco School Gardens • Typical progression of a garden • Build out: yr 1 • Programing: yrs 1+ • Classroom use: yrs 2+

Jeffco School Gardens Typical Questions and Answers • Funding • Programming • Summer maintenance • Vandalism • Excess Produce? • Classroom Use

Gardening can bring any aspect of the curriculum to life We have such a wonderful opportunity to bring a school garden to Maple Grove!

Supporting and Enriching Curriculum Research shows that project based learning improves understanding and depth of knowledge, is essential for crosscurricular learning and 21 st Centaury Skills Jeffco School Garden Curriculum makes it manageable for teachers to utilize All subject matter: science, literature, social studies, history, math, health and nutrition

School Garden Construction Cost Estimate (% By Category) NOTE: Overall % cost of categories marked with a (*) could be reduced if volunteer labor is used vs. a contractor. Data Source: Jeffco School Gardens https: //docs. google. com/file/d/0 Bl. Im. Zd 4_JUcal. Zka. Wd 6 c. GFHVFU/edit

How do we make this successful? FUNDING • Reach out to community connections: Donation of skill, time, material • In-Kind Donations from local businesses: monetary or materials; names to be listed on a garden sign • Grants • PTA Support

How do we make this successful? Community and staff educated and interest verified Tiered approach: different ideas to be discussed • The non negotiable items mandated by the district and starting ‘small’ with a limited number of beds in the space, smaller storage shed, as examples • Intro students with teachers that are on board with utilizing the garden and enriching their curriculum and experiences • Certain grade levels trial the garden • Before and after school activities: potentially volunteer run, bring in after school providers to run a unit, different classes offered individually or as part of a garden club • Exit plan: If this should not take off after 2 -3 years we will have a plan in place to donate or sell salvageable material, bulldoze, and resod area

Moving Forward -Presentation to teachers and staff regarding curriculum and addressing their potential concerns will happen next week with Jeffco Healthy Schools coordinator -PTA proposed amount will be modified and voted on at the October 8 th meeting -Garden committee will meet to discuss futher fundraising/ gathering sponsors and donations from local businesses -People can volunteer for a small or larger role in this project -Construction will begin and a tiered approach will be formulated—