S T U D E N T S P O T L I G H T : F U T U R E L A N D S C A P E A R C H I T E C T S

Autumn means not only “back to school” but also “back to the garden” for our students! Because of your

generous support, thousands of students returned to their outdoor classrooms this fall ready and able to

learn from nature. Read on to see how our school partners kicked off the year with trowels in hand...

T H E B O U N T Y O F T H E S E A S O N

We accepted 7 new schools into

partnership this year, growing our reach to

45,000 students and 2,700 educators at 81

elementary school partners.

We are proud to partner with United Way

of Metropolitan Dallas to bring our program

to 5 new Dallas ISD schools.

We were honored to be named one of Bank

of America’s Neighborhood Builders. This

prestigious

award

provides

$200,000

to help us

grow!

G A R D E N S P O T L I G H T : B A R B A R A B U S H E . S .

The outdoor learning program at Barbara Bush Elementary is a

model of sustainability. With outdoor compost piles AND worm

bins in every indoor classroom, the school is sustaining their soil

while captivating students with lessons about the biological and

chemical processes at work among their food scraps. One of the

school’s composting advocates is a parent volunteer, pointing to

their belief that community

participation is as vital for

garden sustainability as

healthy soil. Whether by

volunteering in the

outdoor classroom or

cultivating a plot in the full-

scale community garden

recently established on

campus, the school

community is actively

engaged in tending to land

as well as young minds.

This fall we launched “Design and Dine” events, a new version of our community garden design workshops. To

prepare for the event, students take part in a garden design

competition, with the winners chosen by their peers and invited to

present their designs during the community workshop. The

students have exhibited great creativity and skill, and one school

proudly displayed a gallery of designs as the work of “future

landscape architects.” These contests have jump-started the

learning process around the outdoor classroom as students

research plant types, learn new vocabulary, develop skills for

drawing and measuring to scale, and practice public speaking (left).

Seeing the students’ imaginative ideas has helped the adult

designers stay grounded and see the project through a child’s eyes.

LEARNER’S ALMANAC

FALL 2011 A handy reference for how your gift has grown this season

C O M M U N I T Y P A R T N E R S P O T L I G H T : H A R V E S T I N G & F E A S T I N G T O G E T H E R A T G R A C E

On a Monday in late September, REAL School Gardens conducted a full-day, on-site training for the staff of Ronald

McNair Elementary, which installed a new outdoor classroom in Spring 2011. By Friday of the same week, we heard

this from the McNair garden coordinator:

E D U C A T O R S P O T L I G H T : M C N A I R F A C U L T Y E M B R A C E O U T D O O R I N S T R U C T I O N

Educators at McNair dust off their own descriptive writing skills

by describing and identifying rocks in the outdoor classroom.

“The staff development has energized the campus. The outdoor classroom is really getting a workout. Today

there were 3 classes out there doing 3 different activities at the same time! More teachers are using the

outdoors than in the past. One of the [teachers] who took her class outside...it is out of her comfort zone to

take her kids outside but she has anyway and plans to plant something next week.”

REAL School Gardens ● 503 Bryan Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76104 ● 817-348-8102 ● www.realschoolgardens.org ● www.facebook.com/REALSchoolGardens

In August, four of our Fort Worth schools planted lettuce, turnips, and green beans with a special purpose: to

become the centerpieces of a gourmet meal at one of the DFW area’s top restaurants, GRACE. The students at these

schools have been learning about the journey from seed to plate, taking on not only the task of cultivating the

vegetables but also grilling GRACE’s co-owners and Executive Chef about the restaurant business during visits to

each of the schools. Several students and teachers from each school will have a chance to taste the fruits of their

labor at a special dinner hosted by GRACE and followed by a ticketed dinner to benefit REAL School Gardens.

Students have been busy preparing and tending to their vegetable beds (above) and

contemplating careers as future chefs (right) during visits from GRACE’s co-owners,

Adam and Caroline Jones, and Executive Chef, Blaine Staniford.

One of the goals of our training is to support educators

who may not feel a natural inclination to use the

outdoor classroom. We strive to demonstrate that the

knowledge and skills required to teach outdoors are

within everyone’s reach. Our on-site trainings provide

the first opportunity for educators to experience

learning in their own outdoor classroom in the same

way their students will, and we use outdoor lessons

across the curriculum to engage teachers in mind and

body. We applaud the staff at McNair for their

enthusiasm and quick application of our training, and

we look forward to watching their confidence and

competence in teaching outdoors grow this year!

It’s not too late to make your reservation for our

Schoolyard Harvest Dinner!

Friday, November 11

6:30 cocktails | 7:00 dinner

Tickets are $150, including

a $60 donation to

REAL School Gardens.

Reservations can be made by

contacting GRACE at

817.877.3388