In this new book, author Cherie Foster Colburn has collected the fascinating stories behind seven beloved flowers: Water Lily, Indian Blanket, Morning Glory, Foxglove, Prickly Pear, Goldenrod, and of course, Bluebonnet. Available from Bright Sky Press.
September 2013 Issue
Our monthly e-mail newsletter with thematic and standards-based articles, activities, and resources for educators implementing school gardens and family gardening. Keep up to date with our web site, sign up for Kids Garden News.
NEW THIS ISSUE
MONTHLY FEATURES | ANNOUNCEMENTS | RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS | CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS | FUNDING AND OPPORTUNITIES
MONTHLY FEATURES
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Announcements
Congrats to our Garden Registry Drawing Winner: The Third Grade Recipe Garden at the Kohala Discovery Garden in Kapaau, Hawaii. As part of a yearlong project, students are working with their families to write a book sharing food tradition stories and recipes. Throughout the year, students will participate in lessons integrating technology, math, science, and literacy skills while learning to grow their own food. At the end of the year, families will be invited to share a meal made by their children and will be given the books as a gift. Visit their entry in the Garden Registry for more details.
Don't miss the next Garden Registry drawing. Sign up for the Garden Registry by December 14th, 2012 for a chance to win one of three Plantcam Time-lapse Cameras from the Gardening with Kids Shop! Three gardens will be selected at random to win and announced in our December edition of Kids Garden News.
NGA has an exciting opportunity in our youth gardening division; Kidsgardening.org. We are seeking to fill a key position within the organization that will have a decisive impact upon the next phase of NGA's growing youth and school gardening programs. Visit garden.org for full details.
Unveiled at the annual AHS National Children and Youth Garden Symposium, the 2012 Growing Good Kids award winners include The Mangrove Tree by Susan Roth and Cindy Trumbore, Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story by Thomas Yezerski, and Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn Galbraith. Learn more about new and past winners on the Junior Master Gardener website.
For the third year, The Muhammad Ali Center in partnership with Yum! Brands Foundation is providing support to youth garden programs across the world through the Muhammad Ali Center Peace Garden Grant. 50 outstanding applicants will receive $500 garden packages including an NGA curriculum package. International applicants are encouraged to apply. Schools within the United States must have a student body eligible for 50% or more reduced or free lunches. Apply online!
Register now for the 2013 Bonnie Plants 3rd Grade Cabbage Program. Each year, Bonnie trucks more than one million, free oversized cross cabbage plants to 3rd Grade classrooms across the country to inspire a love of vegetable gardening in young people (these cabbages can grow upwards of 40 pounds). Teachers distribute the 2” plants with instructions, provided by Bonnie, to students to carry home and grow. At the end of the growing season, teachers select a class winner, based on size, appearance and maturity and that submission is entered in a state scholarship drawing. The $1,000 education scholarship winners are randomly selected by each state’s Director of Agriculture. Learn more.
Through its national awards programs, the American Horticultural Society (AHS) celebrates outstanding achievements, encourages excellence, and inspires innovation in the art and science of horticulture. The Jane L. Taylor Award is given to an individual, organization, or program that has inspired and nurtured future horticulturists through efforts in children’s and youth gardening. Visit the AHS website for more details.
Food Day is a celebration of real food and a campaign to help solve food-related problems in our homes, on our farms, in our schools, and in our communities. Join in with the thousands of other food-concious organizations on October 24, 2012 as we bring attention to important issues. Check out FoodDay.org for great ideas of integrating this event into the classroom or download the Food Day Curriculum Helping Youth Eat Real.
Resources for Educators
The Nourishing the Planet project assesses the state of agricultural innovations—from cropping methods to irrigation technology to agricultural policy—with an emphasis on sustainability, diversity, and ecosystem health, as well as productivity. The project aims to both inform readers about global efforts to eradicate hunger and raise the profile of these efforts. New articles such as spotlights on indigenous vegetables are posted weekly.
Engage your students in a citizen science project by tracking fall’s journey south. Journey North is a free, Internet-based program that explores the interrelated aspects of seasonal change. Through interrelated investigations, students discover that sunlight drives all living systems and they learn about the dynamic ecosystem that surrounds and connects them.
Funding Opportunities
The Subaru Healthy Sprouts Award recognizes and supports youth gardening programs focused on teaching about nutrition, the environment and hunger issues. Through the program, students gain skills to maintain a healthy lifestyle compatible with environmental stewardship and a greater understanding of how their actions can positively impact their community. Apply online!
For six years, The Home Depot Garden Club has provided over $400,000 in support to youth garden programs across the country through the Youth Garden Grant. One hundred outstanding applicants will receive gift cards to the Home Depot along with NGA curriculum. Five winners will receive a $1,000 award that includes a $500 gift certificate to the Home Depot, a $500 gift certificate to the Gardening with Kids catalog, and an NGA curriculum package. All non-profit youth garden programs are eligible to apply. Apply online!
For the third year, The Muhammad Ali Center in partnership with Yum! Brands Foundation is providing support to youth garden programs across the world through the Muhammad Ali Center Peace Garden Grant. 50 outstanding applicants will receive $500 garden packages including an NGA curriculum package. International applicants are encouraged to apply. Schools within the United States must have a student body eligible for 50% or more reduced or free lunches. Apply online!
Mantis presents the Mantis Awards to charitable and educational garden projects that enhance the quality of life in communities. Winners are selected by the NGA and receive Mantis tiller/cultivators. All nonprofit garden programs are eligible to apply. Apply online!
Green Education Foundation (GEF) and Gardener’s Supply Company are calling on schools and youth groups to submit chronicles of their garden projects in a race to win a $5,000 grant. Chronicles can include videos, digital portfolios or scanned artwork with descriptions. Existing garden programs involving K-12 students are eligible to apply.
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 with a site available for a stewardship project. Successful non-school applicants often are a partnership between a youth group (scouts, 4-H, etc.) and a site owner. Libraries, government agencies and houses of worship are eligible subject to youth participation. Visit their website for more details.
Through the Sip to Support a Garden program, sponsored by Jamba Juice, schools and community gardens can earn credits that can be applied toward the purchase of essential gardening equipment suitable for any age from the National Gardening Association’s Gardening with Kids catalog. Participation is easy: Sign up your school or garden organization online. Your organization will receive a Jamba-Kit that includes program details—and start swiping. Each time a supporter uses the swipe card for purchases, Jamba will donate 10% of the purchase to NGA for your purchasing account. Sign up your school and Sip to Support online.
Flower Power gives schools and nonprofits a "healthy" option for fundraising — selling bulbs that will bloom into stunning floral displays. Flower Power has carefully selected easy-to-plant, easy-to-grow bulbs from among its most popular and best-selling varieties, ensuring a successful, appealing fundraising campaign. Your organization makes a profit of 50% on every sale and you get to keep your profit immediately. To help keep your profits high, Flower Power will ship your order free of charge, saving you up to an additional 10%. And unlike other fundraising programs, there are no confusing discount strategies or minimum order requirement to qualify. All bulbs purchased through this fundraising program come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Click here for more details.
Conferences and Workshops
Course space is limited, and sections have been filling quickly! The National Teacher Institute (NTI) for Garden-Based Learning is a collaborative partnership between Longwood Gardens and the National Gardening Association. The partnership was formed to offer professional development to educators and volunteers from one of the great gardens of the world and the leader in K-12 plant-based educational resources, materials, and grants. This online course is designed to introduce teachers to the benefits of a school garden program; help them identify ways to build support for developing a garden; create a vision, theme, and design; and distinguish the best curriculum for incorporation into their classroom. Participants will gain practical knowledge for laying the groundwork of a successful program. Course participants will receive valuable feedback from their instructor and other teachers while learning new avenues for student instruction. Their first online course, School Gardening 101 is now open for two winter sections. For more information and to register for the course visit the NTI website.
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This two-day workshop, located at the Life Lab Garden Classroom in Santa Cruz, CA, is ideal for anyone interested or involved in teaching children in a garden setting. Using The Growing Classroom activity guide for grades 2-6, you’ll experience hands-on activities, learn basic science concepts and gardening techniques, and develop management strategies for a school gardening program. Find out how to teach the standards while you guide students through the natural cycles of the garden. Registration deadline is September 20th.
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NAAEE’s 41st annual conference will be held in Oakland, California. One of the largest environmental education conferences in North America, the theme this year is “Gaining Perspective: Seeing EE Through Different Lenses.” Organizers are expecting more than 1,000 environmental education professionals, representing universities, government agencies, non-profit organizations, schools, service-learning programs, businesses and corporations, and the arts. Visit the NAAEE website for additional details and registration information.
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Come to Sacramento to experience agriculture and education "From Stem to Core." Workshops, field trips, presentations, free resources, and Make 'n' Takes will help educators teach students about where their food and fiber comes from. For more information, a detailed agenda, and to register, visit www.LearnAboutAg.org/conference.
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