Kids Garden News

This Month's Teachers' Room Feature: School Garden Mentors Build Bridges to Learning...and More
This month, we focus on several approaches for using mentors to inspire and support school gardens, student learning, and busy teachers. From teens to seniors, community mentors – as well as their young charges – reap concrete and intangible rewards from building these relationships. Visit the Teachers' Room

This Month's Family Room Feature: Gardening with Creative Containers
Plan a ‘yard sale adventure’ with your children in search of creative garden containers. Visit the Family Room.

2011 Youth Garden Grant Applications Available~ Deadline: November 1
Youth Garden Grants recognize outstanding youth-focused garden programs throughout the country. This year 100 recipients will receive a $500 gift card from our sponsor The Home Depot and educational materials from the National Gardening Association. The top 5 winners will also receive a $500 gift certificate to Gardening with Kids. Download an application.

Great American Gardeners Award ~ September 30
Each year, The American Horticultural Society recognizes individuals, organizations, and businesses who contribute significantly to the fields of plant research, garden communication, landscape design, youth gardening, teaching, and floral design. Nominate an exceptional gardener in your life.

Jamba Juice and National Gardening Association Launch Sip to Support a Garden™
To promote health, wellness and physical activitiy, Jamba Juice and NGA are partnering to implement a program focused on four core elements: gardening, fruit tree plantings, nutrition education and volunteerism. Through Sip to Support A Garden™, schools and garden organizations will have the ability to earn year-round funding for their gardens through Jamba’s Community Appreciation Card. Additional support will be available through the It’s All About the Fruit™ Grants. This grant program will provide schools with $500 fruit tree planting grants to create long-term sustainable solutions and resources for schools and communities. To kick off the grant program, Jamba and NGA announced that the first grants are being awarded to five schools in the Sacramento City Unified School District: Oak Ridge Elementary School, Bowling Green K-6 School, Leonardo Da Vinci K-8 School, Will C. Wood Middle School, and Rosa Parks Middle School. Additional details and applications will be available soon. Click here for more information about this exciting new partnership.

How To Grow a School Garden: A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers ~ 25% off Back to School Special!
This new book by experienced school garden coordinators Arden Bucklin-Sporer and Rachel Kathleen Pringle offers “a practical, concise blueprint for funding, building, planting, and maintaining a school garden.” It includes strategies, to-do lists, detailed lesson plans, easy recipes and other tricks of the trade. Click here to read through the introduction. Timber Press is offering a special Educator Appreciation discount for NGA Kids Garden News subscribers of 25% off retail price (discount applied before shipping). This offer is only available online at http://www.timberpress.com/nga. This promotion ends Sept. 30, 2010.

2010 Growing Good Kids Award Winners Announced
Four children's books received the "Growing Good Kids – Excellence in Children's Literature Award" at the 2010 National Children & Youth Garden Symposium in Pasadena, California. This joint program of the American Horticultural Society and the National Junior Master Gardeners Program, recognizes children's books that effectively promote an appreciation for gardening, plants, and the environment.
This year's winners, selected from books published in 2009, are:
- Bring Me Some Apples and I’ll Make You a Pie by Robbin Gourley (Clarion Books)
- The Busy Tree by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Lisa Falkenstern (Marshall Cavendish Corp)
- The Curious Garden by Peter Brown (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
- Our Shadow Garden by Cherie Foster Colburn, illustrated by the children at Children's Cancer Hospital at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (Bright Sky Press)
Click here for descriptions of each book.

Imagine This ~ Deadline: November 1
California schools are invited to submit student stories for this annual writing content focused on understanding of agriculture in our lives. For more information vist: www.cfaitc.org/imaginethis.

Plant It, Grow It, Eat It ~ September 17
Make the connection from seed to table in this delicious one-day workshop from Life Lab. For more information visit: http://www.lifelab.org/workshops.php

The Growing Classroom ~ Septmber 30-October 1
Learn hands-on activities, basic science concepts, gardening techniques, and management strategies for a school garden program at Life Lab’s Growing Classroom in Santa Cruz, CA. For more information visit: http://www.lifelab.org/workshops.php

Giving through Growing Workshops ~ October 1–2
The American Community Gardening Association is hosting a Giving through Growing workshops in Washington, D.C. to train community members in how to establish successful community gardening programs. For more information, contact the ACGA office at 877-275-2242 or info@communitygarden.org.

Sowing the Seeds of Wonder: Discovering the Garden in Early Childhood Education ~ October 23
Learn how to implement garden activities in a pre-school setting from the experienced educators at Life Lab.
For more information visit: http://www.lifelab.org/workshops.php

Monarchs in Mexico ~ February 5-12 and February 12-19, 2011
Join Monarchs Across Georgia for a journey to the heart of Mexico featuring the monarch butterfly overwintering sanctuaries, visits to a rural Mexican school, tree nursery, and colonial towns. Read more about this traveling opportunity.

Host a Growing Classroom Training
Those who want to provide educators in their area with the tools for success should consider hosting a Growing Classroom Training. Presented by the Life Lab Science Program and the National Gardening Association, this two-day workshop is ideal for those interested in supplementing their existing science program with garden-based learning. Using The Growing Classroom activity guide for grades 2-6, participants will experience hands-on activities, learn basic science concepts and gardening techniques, and develop management strategies for a school gardening program. Click here for more details.

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Funding Opportunities (Listed chronologically by deadline date)

Walmart Foundation State Giving Program ~ Deadline: August 20
Through the State Giving Program, the Walmart Foundation supports organizations with programs that align with our mission to create opportunities so people can live better. The State Giving Program awards grants starting at $25,000 to nonprofit organizations that serve a particular state or region. The Foundation has adopted four areas of focus: Education, Job Skills Training, Environmental Sustainability and Health. Learn more.

Captain Planet Foundation ~ Deadlines: March 31, June 30, September 30, December 31
Captain Planet Foundation provides funds for hands-on programs that promote understanding of environmental issues. Click here for details.

2010 Subaru Healthy Sprouts Award Application Available ~ Deadline: October 1
The Subaru Healthy Sprouts Award recognizes and supports youth gardening programs focused on teaching about our environment, nutrition and hunger issues in the United States. During 2010, 30 organizations will receive a $500 gift certificate. Click here for more details.

Lowe's Toolbox for Education Grant ~ Deadline: October 15
Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) has helped more than 1,000 schools across the country create reading gardens, build playgrounds and implement other improvement projects that help strengthen their schools and their communities. Application deadline October 15th or when 1,500 applications received. Grants range between $2,000-$5,000 per school. Click here for more details.

The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program ~ October 15
The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program gives small monetary grants to schools, nature centers, and other non-profit and not-for-profit places of learning in the United States. Project goals should focus on enhancement and development of an appreciation for nature using native plants. Complete details.

2011 Youth Garden Grant Applications Available~ Deadline: November 1, 2010
Youth Garden Grants recognize outstanding youth-focused garden programs throughout the country. This year 100 recipients will receive a $500 gift card from our sponsor The Home Depot and educational materials from the National Gardening Association. The top 5 winners will also receive a $500 gift certificate to Gardening with Kids. Download an application.

American Honda Foundaton ~ Deadlines: November 1, February 1, May 1, August 1
The American Honda Foundation supports youth education programs with a specific focus on the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects in addition to the environment. Grants range from $20,000 to $60,000. Click here for more details.

Project Learning Tree GreenWorks! Polliantor Garden Grants ~ December 1
In 2010, Project Learning Tree and the USDA Forest Service are offering grants to teachers and students participating in PollinatorLIVE: A Distance Learning Adventure. Participating teachers can apply for GreenWorks! funding to create pollinator gardens in their schoolyard or community. The maximum grant amount is $500, and the deadline to apply is December 1st, 2010. Learn more.

Herb Society of America Grant for Educators ~ Deadline: December 31
The Grant for Educators challenges individuals, groups or small businesses to develop and deliver learning experiences to the public. The grant recognizes innovative projects that enhance herbal education in school systems, in communities, or in any public forum (electronic or person-to-person). It requires learning goals and a mechanism to measure the educational outcomes. Click here for more details.

2011 Mantis Award Application ~ Deadline: March 1, 2011
The Mantis Awards recognize charitable and educational garden projects that enhance the quality of life in their host communities. The 25 recipients receive Mantis tiller/cultivators. Download an application.

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
SARE is a competitive grants program providing grants to researchers, agricultural educators, farmers and ranchers, and students in the United States. Opportunities vary by region and year. Visit http://www.sare.org/grants/ to search programs currently accepting proposals.

2010 Golden Carrot Awards~ Deadline: Rolling
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is seeking nominations for its Golden Carrot Awards for outstanding school food service professionals who have developed and implemented a healthful and successful school lunch program. The grand prize winner will receive $1,500 and a $3,500 check made out to her or his school or school district. Up to four additional awards will be given, with $500 going to the food service professional and $500 to benefit the school food service program. Click here, to nominate school food service professionals and their school lunch programs for the Golden Carrot Awards.

Build-A-Bear Workshop® Giving Programs ~ Deadline: Rolling
Champ–A Champion Fur Kids grants for children’s health and wellness are awarded to programs with measurable outcomes that make the world a healthier and happier place for kids. Click here for more details.

Annie's Grants for Gardens ~ Deadline: Rolling
Annie's offers a limited number of small grants to community gardens, school gardens, and other education programs that connect children directly to gardening. These funds may be used to buy gardening tools, seeds, or other gardening supplies. Click here for application details.

Fruit Tree 101 ~ Deadline: Rolling
This program of The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation brings fruit tree orchards to schoolyards, so students can make a positive environmental impact at their school, while creating a source of tasty snacks for decades to come. Click here to download an application.

Operation Green Plant – Free Seed Grants ~ Deadline: Rolling
America the Beautiful Fund's Operation Green Plant program is offering grants of FREE SEEDS (vegetable, flower, or herb) to encourage citizen efforts to protect and preserve America’s lands and resources. Shipping and handling fees for the first set of 100 seed packets is $14.95. Additional set(s) of 100 packets are available for $5 per set. Click here for more details.

Grant Wrangler
Find funding opportunities for K-12 schools, searchable by grade level, keyword, category, and deadline at grantwrangler.com/.

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