real school gardens learners almanac winter 2012
DESCRIPTION
A handy reference for how gifts to REAL School Gardens have grown this season!TRANSCRIPT
S T U D E N T S P O T L I G H T : S T U D E N T S L E A R N F R O M G A R D E N T O T A B L E A T G R A C E E V E N T
We are welcoming another growing season and thanks to your generous support, thousands of students are able to sow seeds in REAL school gardens across North Texas. Our school partners are planting new learning gardens, engaging their communities, and cultivating successful students. Read on to see how!
At the Second Annual Schoolyard Harvest Dinner on November 11th, students from four
of our partner schools had the opportunity to taste food from their school gardens
prepared by Executive Chef Blaine Staniford of GRACE restaurant. Chef Staniford used
turnips, beans, and lettuce grown in the schools’ gardens to create a delicious meal for the
ticketed wine dinner benefitting REAL School Gardens. In preparation for the event,
students hosted Chef Staniford in their gardens and had the chance to take part in a
healthy cooking demonstration and taste test. At GRACE, the students had a real garden-
to-table experience, enjoying their harvest in a number of healthy dishes and even touring
the kitchen to learn first-hand how their meal traveled from their outdoor classrooms to
their plates. We are excited to foster connections between garden-based learning and
healthy lifestyles, and we look forward to another great event at GRACE next fall.
LEARNER’S ALMANAC
Winter 2012
Dallas’ John J. Pershing Elementary is now home to a vibrant new learning garden. In November, United Way volunteers, school staff, students, parents, and neighbors came together to build the outdoor classroom, which includes organic vegetable and perennial beds, a rainwater harvesting system, a chicken coop, and a pond. In June, the faculty will spend a full day in the garden with our educators exploring how each grade level can utilize the outdoor classroom to reach learning goals. This event will kick off two years of teacher training on campus, with the goal of ensuring that Pershing’s educators have the skills and resources to engage children in the outdoors for years to come.
T H E B O U N T Y O F T H E S E A S O N
Over 2,000 students took part in
learning garden design contests at
our partner schools this year, and
306 parents, teachers, and neighbors
took inspiration from the winning
student designs at the Design & Dine
events
319 volunteers installed Nathan
Adams Elementary School’s learning
garden on December 10th—our
highest turnout to date
120 teachers participated in training
events this winter to learn how to
use learning gardens to meet state
standards and engage students
The night was replete with chef toques (hats) and great food!
G A R D E N S P O T L I G H T : J O H N J . P E R S H I N G E . S .
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 : U N I T E D W A Y S U P P O R T S F I V E N E W G A R D E N S
In early February, fourth grade teachers from throughout Fort Worth ISD learned
to map the energy flow—or food web—of a schoolyard as a way of planning to
engage their students in science. Teachers got hands-on with outdoor-based
science instruction by collecting and documenting schoolyard data. They then
used Google Earth to construct food webs based on their findings and analyzed
how energy flows from productive plants to organisms that decompose organic
matter and back again. This training event was offered as part of our contract
with Fort Worth ISD, which for two
years has enabled us to provide
experiential, outdoor-based science
training to teachers from all of the
district’s elementary schools. After
each training we provide, the district
makes RSG lessons available to every
teacher in the district by posting them
to the online curriculum planning tool.
E D U C A T O R S P O T L I G H T : T E A C H E R S L E A R N A L L A B O U T E N E R G Y F L O W I N T H E G A R D E N
REAL School Gardens ● 503 Bryan Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76104 ● 817-348-8102 ● www.realschoolgardens.org ● www.facebook.com/REALSchoolGardens
Looking forward to growing these cool weather crops
*Stay tuned for the special role potatoes play in our Spring
Learner’s Almanac
Beets Carrots
Radishes Onion
Spinach Lettuce
Peas Potatoes*
From installing winding pathways through the gardens to digging ponds, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas volunteers have played a big role in building REAL school gardens.
United Way of Metropolitan Dallas (UWMD) has provided funding and hard-working volunteers for five
new learning gardens in Dallas. We are proud to partner with UWMD to share in our mission of boosting
the math and science education throughout the region with the ultimate goal of preparing 50% more
students for post-secondary learning by 2020. RSG was one of 14 organizations welcomed as new UWMD
service providers this year and was the top recipient of funds in United Way’s math and science focus
area. With their support, we established learning gardens this fall at John J. Pershing Elementary School,
Nathan Adams Elementary School, and Gabe P. Allen Charter School. We look forward to bringing learning
gardens to life at Charles Rice Learning Center and Sidney Lanier Expressive Arts Vanguard in March.
Fort Worth ISD teachers learned to link science concepts to the garden for their fourth-grade students by using Google
Earth to map and study food webs.
“When I went out on campuses, the teachers couldn’t
wait to tell me when they were going outside to begin
the module” - FWISD Science Content Specialist