Smart Ideas for Building Your School Garden Team

Laying the Groundwork
 

Building your Garden Team:

Create a School Garden Logo and start a Blog (read below)

Interested in starting a school garden program? Share your ideas with school  administrators and get approval for further exploration. Other people to include in the discussion are fellow teachers, school facilities staff, curriculum coordinator, any Food Corp members that might be in your school district and of course, grounds and maintenance staff, your schools food service staff. You'll also need to build community support for a school garden. Consider contacting neighborhood associations, local civic organizations, garden clubs, the UConn Master Gardeners, or UConn Extension Services for input and support. Many community supports can be found at the New London County School Garden Network, which meets quarterly.
Most important, get students and their parents talking about the garden. Students should be involved in every step of the process. Kids and teens who have a say become more invested in school gardens, take better care of them, and take the lessons more to heart.

Digging In:

Hold brainstorming sessions to set goals for the garden. You may want to have a series of meetings — some just for students during school hours, and others for interested students, staff, parent-teacher group members, and other community members on an evening or weekend.

Ask participants to consider these questions:

• What are the main reasons for having the garden? These might include providing food for snacks or meals, serving as a teaching tool, or giving students an outlet for physical activity.
• How will the crops be used? Possible answers include "by the cafeteria staff," "in classrooms," "to raise money for the school," or "donated to a food pantry."
• How can teachers use the garden in the curriculum? How can a garden help students understand certain subjects better? Encourage participants to think of applications for every school subject.
• How will the garden be shared? Discuss which classes will participate in the garden and whether each should have its own assigned space, share space, or both. Discuss whether students will be allowed in the garden only during class time or also during recess and after school.

This is a good time to start thinking about management and care of the garden. The garden will need a coordinator (or coordinators) to oversee its use and keep an eye on maintenance needs. You'll also want to decide who will be responsible for the garden during school breaks. Some schools incorporate school gardens into summer learning and enrichment programs, while others have volunteers from the neighborhood or civic groups care for the garden.


Fun Ways to Get the Input from Students and School Staff:

Start a page on your website, start a blog. It's easy using Google's Blogger - for example, visit the Oswegatchie Elementary School Blog.  At Lillie B. Haynes Elementary School in East Lyme, CT, the "Ask the Green Thumb" box was hung in the school hallway, just inside the school garden. It was suggested by fourth grade teacher, Catherine Ellal. The original idea was to read (or have video) of answers for the school news broadcast. Kids have been asking so many questions that now School Garden Coordinator Jen McMahon types up answers and put them on courtyard door. "The current thought is to provide something for each grade to enjoy, K-4, even if it's sitting out there for snack on a sunny spring day", says Ms. Mahon.

Ask a Green Thumb Box

Ideas at Lillie B. Haynes for this year's school garden include: 

•  A hungry caterpillar garden featuring art with the kindergarten classes
•  A butterfly garden, with first grade students 
•  Life cycle of a plant through vegetables, with second grade students
  
• Rock garden - geology lessons, with third grade students 
• Composting and early colonists herbs and Native American practice of planting 3 sisters (beans, corn and squash), with fourth grade students

How are you getting your garden started?  Share your plans and ideas!