D I G G I N G I N TO T H E
art and science of gardening
e d u c at i o n a l s e s s i o n s
Thursday, July 21st - Pick one A session - 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
A1 Building a Local Gardening Educators Network A4 Exploring American History Through Gardening
Penny Colgan-Davis and Fern Culhane, Frankford Maggie Sullivan, Nature’s Crossroads Earth-Friendly
Friends School, Philadelphia, PA Seeds, Bloomington, IN
Would you like to connect with like-minded people Connect your students with American history through
who garden with students in your neck of the woods? the plants that we grow in our gardens. In particular,
We’ll show you how we did this in Philadelphia after we’ll look at plants that were grown, studied, and/or
returning from NCYGS 2009 in Ohio. Wherever you eaten by Native Americans, European explorers, and
live, you can build your own local network of support pioneers. You’ll receive lesson plans, garden designs,
to share ideas, successes, and challenges year-round. and hands-on activities that you can incorporate into
your curriculum.
A2 Cultivating Food Security Through Youth
Garden Programing A5 From Schoolyard to Backyard
Stephanie Solomon, Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, Gabriele Blacklidge, Lauren Taylor, and Anne Todd,
Bloomington, IN Kent Garden Club, Rockford, MI
Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard food pantry community Gardening can be an intergenerational experience
garden program offers garden, cooking, and nutrition for children - pushing seeds into the vegetable garden
programming for youth of all ages in Bloomington, at Grandma’s direction, helping Dad pick off beetles
Indiana. Learn the ins and outs of this innovative chewing on leaves, and dropping bulbs into holes
program and how to identify similar opportunities in your older siblings have dug. Local garden clubs are filled
community. Hear what has worked, what has not, and with willing hands to encourage children and families
where we see potential for growth. to explore their own back yards together. Kent Garden
Club of Grand Rapids has suggestions to work with
A3 Earth to Table: Learning to Grow, Eat & Move Well garden clubs in your area to create enthusiasm for
gardening at home.
Kristina Weidenfeller and Michele Worden, The
Montessori Children’s House, Traverse City, MI
A6 Helpful Hints from Horticultural Therapy
The Children’s House in Traverse City, Michigan,
provides a full circle approach to teaching healthy, JoAnn Yates, The Children’s Center for the Physically
sustainable living by connecting gardens, kitchen Disabled, Lewisville, NC
classroom, physical education, academic curriculum, Creative and adaptive techniques from the field of
and environmental stewardship. You will learn how horticultural therapy can increase the usability of your
to weave gardening into curriculum designed for school garden. Using the Children’s Center for the
preschool to sixth grade students, sustain it financially Physically Disabled in Lewisville, North Carolina, as a
through raising crops for sale and a school lunch model, we’ll discuss topics such as design, curriculum
program, and maintain it with physical education-all development, and safety. You’ll get tips for creating
while being “green”! a school garden program that allows for the greatest
level of participation and student success while
supporting the educational, social, environmental, and
health and wellness goals of the school.
D I G G I N G I N TO T H E
art and science of gardening
e d u c at i o n a l s e s s i o n s
Thursday, July 21st - Pick one A session - 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. [continued]
A7 Ladybug Launch A10 Treasured Places From Wasted Spaces
Elan Brown, The Village School, Naples, FL Todd Beasley and Valerie Moore, Heathwood Hall
The children’s garden at the Village School in Naples, Episcopal School, Columbia, SC
Florida, has held an annual Ladybug Launch for four One of the easiest options for creating an outdoor
years with our K-3 children. This event has become learning environment on a limited budget is to make
a new tradition for the kids, their families, and the use of existing features on school grounds. Learn how
community, expanding the educational impact of the to transform seemingly useless and neglected areas
garden beyond its boundaries. We’ll discuss how to such as fences, ditches, parking lot islands, right-of-
organize special events in your children’s garden that ways, and even rain gutters into thriving habitats and
will help make a difference not only in your students’ vibrant outdoor classrooms.
lives, but can effect positive, community-wide change.
A8 Taking the Garden Home
Melissa Gula, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
Natural exploration shouldn’t end once a family’s visit
to a public garden is over. For example, the Mordecai
Children’s Garden in Denver makes available to
its visitors activities and materials to continue their
exploration outside of the garden. Learn how you
can create similar extended learning opportunities
for families that can be done in a variety of settings,
including the car, the local park, or inside on a rainy
day.
A9 The Fairchild Challenge: Fostering Interest in
the Environment
Mary Keppler, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden,
Coral Gables, FL
Started in 2002, The Fairchild Challenge is
a competitive, multidisciplinary approach to
environmental education that has proven effective for
inspiring schools in diverse and low-income areas to
start school gardens and environmental action projects.
We’ll describe how it works and provide tips for how to
enlist fundraising, build a strong volunteer base, and
design efficient, low-maintenance gardens. You will
also receive information on how to become a Fairchild
Challenge Satellite Partner.
D I G G I N G I N TO T H E
art and science of gardening
e d u c at i o n a l s e s s i o n s
Friday, July 22nd - Pick one B session 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. and one C session 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
B11 Designing Nature Based Outdoor Play B14 Implementing a Garden Program in Multiple
Environments Schools
Lolly Tai, Temple University, Ambler, PA Jared Pruch, The School Garden Project of Lane County,
Children benefit substantially from interaction Eugene, OR
with nature in all aspects of their development; The School Garden Project of Lane County coordinates
physical, mental, moral, and emotional. This is one a garden-based education program in 10 elementary
reason why access to green space is so vital. This schools from four school districts in Eugene, Oregon,
presentation examines creatively designed outdoor each year. Using this program as a model, we will
play environments for children in the Netherlands, one discuss how to successfully implement similar programs.
of the leading countries in addressing natural, quality, We’ll focus on program content and structure,
accessible, and inclusive play opportunities. strategies for community and volunteer engagement,
and advocating for school gardens on the district level.
B12 Dow Gardens Children’s Garden: Keeping the This workshop is most relevant for nonprofit entities that
Focus on Plants partner with schools during regular classroom visits.
Melissa Butkiewicz, Dow Gardens, Midland, MI
B15 It All Started with Jack: the Reader’s Theatre
The Dow Gardens Children’s Garden in Midland, Garden
Michigan, is the home of the 2010 award-winning
Growin’ Gardener Program. Using this program’s Natalie Cassidy and Cindy Hedin, Washington
curriculum as an example, we’ll discuss how to help School, Summit, NJ
children as well as adults connect or re-connect with Jack’s magic beanstalk pales when compared to what
plants and where food comes from. We’ll look at what grew from the beans planted by Washington Schools’
has worked and what hasn’t when it comes to the 1st graders at our Reader’s Theater Stage and Garden.
garden’s activities and places for play/discovery, and Learn how the idea for our Reader’s Theater Garden
how our design philosophy ties it all together. was initially developed to meet the needs of our new
literacy program and how we financed and constructed
B13 Green Corps: Sustainable Youth and Urban the stage and surrounding garden area. We’ll also look
Agriculture at how we used these gardens and stage for lessons in
math, science, and language arts. Sample lesson plans
Shawn Belt and Jesus Sanchez, Cleveland Botanical will be provided.
Garden, Cleveland, OH
Through growing fruits and vegetables, participants in B16 Joining Forces with Community Centers
Cleveland Botanical Garden’s Green Corps program
develop job and work skills, leadership abilities, and Julie Foster, Linda Foster, and Susan Mueller, Taconi
environmental/community stewardship. Find out how Elementary School, Ocean Springs, MS
you can apply Green Corps’ lessons and activities to A reciprocal relationship with a community organization
teach high school youth basic agricultural practices and can benefit BOTH the community and the participating
plant science in your community. school. For Taconi Elementary in Ocean Springs,
Mississippi, joining forces with a local cultural center
was invaluable for expanding the school’s gardening
program. Learn how you can work with community
centers in your area to enrich your gardening
programs.
D I G G I N G I N TO T H E
art and science of gardening
e d u c at i o n a l s e s s i o n s
Friday, July 22nd - Pick one B session 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. and one C session 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
B17 Plan Smart to Start a Garden classroom and school garden needs ranging from
Julie Casault, Lisa Davis, and Melissa Gula, Denver science fair projects to lectures and demonstrations.
Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO Learn how you can take advantage of this resource to
enhance your existing required curriculum.
If you are looking to create a new children’s garden,
you’ll gain valuable insight into the planning process
from this session. We’ll examine the five-year planning C21 Biodynamic Composting in the Learning Garden
process of the recently completed Mordecai Children’s Dory Rindge, VORTEX Biodynamic Solutions, South
Garden at Denver Botanic Garden by giving an Pasadena, CA
overview of each step, addressing the stumbling blocks, Take your compost pile lesson one step further – go
and listing successes. You will be able to use what you biodynamic! As we build a biodynamic compost pile,
learn to guide your own planning process. we’ll discuss the principles of biodynamic gardening,
ingredients in biodynamic preparations, soil health, and
B18 Teacher Workshops: Success, Challenges & Fun how to apply the concepts of biodynamics in a school
Renata Brown, Cleveland Botanical Garden, garden setting. You’ll receive lesson plans that will help
Cleveland, OH with easy start-up in your school garden.
Are you looking to train others to enhance their
professional development? Once your plant-based C22 Digging into Worm Composting
workshop is planned, there is still much to do: getting Erin Hoffer, Sustainability - Environmental Education &
the word out, gathering and preparing materials, Community Outreach, Plano, TX
registration, logistics, etc. Learn how to organize Don’t let the worms crawl in and the worms crawl out
and present entertaining, informative, and engaging – put them to work in your classroom! We’ll explore
workshops that will have teachers asking for more. the wonderful world of vermicomposting through
child-centered learning stations and hands-on activities
B19 The Tale of Bookworm Gardens you can use with your students. We’ll cover the basics
Sandy Livermore, Bookworm Gardens, Sheboygan, WI of food waste composting with worms as well as
how to use the castings as a fertile soil amendment.
Come hear the story of how a garden based completely Information for adapting the learning stations for large
on children’s literature came to fruition last year in and small group events is included.
Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A group of volunteers not
only formed their own nonprofit organization, but also
raised the money to build this garden, and included C23 Doin’ What Comes Naturally
the community in the process. As you learn from this Rowena Gerber, Abess Center for Environmental
project’s successes and mistakes, you’ll glean helpful Studies, Miami, FL
tips for creating a children’s garden in your own Find out how an international, award-winning
community or school. gardening/environmental studies program taps into
students’ creativity to teach lessons about math, science,
B20 Volunteers for School Gardens creative writing, nutrition, and more. We’ll provide an
Mary Ann Rozum, USDA, Vienna, VA overview of the program’s age-appropriate gardening
activities designed for pre-K to 5th grade students.
The National Science Foundation links volunteers You’ll also make and enjoy several garden recipes,
to schools for a variety of science-related subjects, including (weather permitting) a few solar cooked treats,
including botany and earth science. The organization’s and create artistic masterpieces using a variety of plant
online database helps match volunteers with specific materials.
D I G G I N G I N TO T H E
art and science of gardening
e d u c at i o n a l s e s s i o n s
Friday, July 22nd - Pick one B session 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. and one C session 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
C24 Everything But the Kitchen Sink – Cooking &
Sharing the Harvest with Children C27 Let’s Bloom Together
Amy Berens, Crown Point Ecology Center, Bath, OH Michael Bedrick and David Crimi, Let’s Bloom Together,
Learn how to take your garden program to the next Morristown, NJ
level by sharing the harvest with kids and families. Kids learn best when they are having fun, whether at
With hands-on, multi-age activities, we’ll take the school, camp, or other group setting. Join “Marigold
guesswork out of cooking with limited space and Mike” as he explains the way his “Let’s Bloom
appliances, adapting kid-pleasing recipes across the Together” program engages children ages 3 to 10
seasons, and harvesting techniques. We’ll also provide with interactive and entertaining gardening activities.
tips for working with groups of children in the garden, This program is designed to augment your existing
specifically get kids of all ages involved. curriculum.
C25 Getting to Know Herbs C28 There are Plants in my Jeans!
Sherri Reehil-Welser, Phelps Community Center – Yourth Mary Beth Bennett, West Virginia University Extension
Programs, Phelps, NY Service, Martinsburg, WV
Become a sage of wisdom who can pass on the lost Plants are all around us, even in our clothes. Help kids
art of herbal first aid to youngsters. Learn the basics of understand the importance of plants in our everyday
the most common healing herbs and their medicinal lives by exploring cotton and other plants used for
properties, and how to communicate this knowledge fiber production from historical times to the present
in an engaging way to children. This workshop will day. We’ll demonstrate several hands-on activities that
also provide fun project ideas and an herbal salve teach across the curriculum to reinforce learning about
demonstration. plants. These activities will build problem-solving skills,
enhance observation, and make learning fun while
C26 Just Imagine – A Garden Where Plants, providing a global perspective. Resource materials will
Children, and Imaginations Grow be provided.
Jessica Wright, Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden,
East Lansing, MI C29 You Know What Kids Dig?
Explore how children can discover the wonders of Michele Dunham, Rochester Hills Museum at Van
nature through storytelling, role-play, art, costumes, Hoosen Farm, Rochester Hills, MI
and more. After an overview of the MSU 4-H Children’s The award-winning Children’s Garden at the Rochester
Garden’s programs, we will venture out into the garden Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm in Michigan is
to experience many of the activities and lessons we designed to introduce children of all ages to the
use for events and school programs. You will receive history and horticulture of the farm. Its interactive and
handouts with detailed descriptions of all activities and interdisciplinary programs for ages 3-10 use all five
lessons. senses to teach plant science. See demonstrations of these
programs and receive lesson plans, as well as marketing
and packaging strategies and suggestions, you can use in
your own school or garden.
D I G G I N G I N TO T H E
art and science of gardening
e d u c at i o n a l s e s s i o n s
Saturday, July 23rd - Pick one D session 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. and one E session 11:00 a.m. – 12:00
p.m.
D31 Butterfly Gardening Using Native Plants D34 Gardens & Nutrition: Changing What Kids Eat
Nancy Sale, Miami, FL Erika Pijai and Alicia White, United States Department
A schoolyard habitat can provide numerous academic of Agriculture, FNS, Alexandria, VA
benefits by integrating science, mathematics, and Linking gardens to nutrition education is helping increase
language arts standards through hands-on, minds- the fruits and vegetables eaten in the cafeteria and at
on experiences. This interactive session will guide you home. Find out how school gardens can support national
through creating a butterfly garden and organizing childhood obesity prevention efforts and learn ways to
related educational activities such as making a connect growing experiences to nutrition education,
monarch life-cycle plate and a butterfly kit. You will educational standards, and school meals. We’ll also
receive a DVD of resources and an assortment of grant explore new garden-themed nutrition education curricula
opportunities to fund your projects. from the USDA’s Team Nutrition initiative and how to
implement lessons.
D32 Container & Indoor Gardening Projects on a
Budget D35 Keep’em Wanting More!
Mary Beth Bennett and John Porter, West Virginia Ian Warnock, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture
University Extension Service, Charleston, WV Park, Grand Rapids, MI
It is not always possible to take kids outside into the Whether you garden in a warm southern climate or
garden, so gardening activities designed for kids to in the Great White North, it is important to give your
do indoors or to take home are a necessity for many garden all-season interest. Learn what goes into
programs. And of course you need activities that are creating themed displays to keep kids coming back
fun and low-cost as well. Come discover some new season to season, year after year. This will include
options to add to your repertoire, such as pet gardens, the design process, plant choice, props, educational
pizza gardens in a bucket, garden light carts, growing components, associated activities, and child interaction.
sprouts, and more.
D36 Making UPcycled Books
D33 Gardening with Military Families Dar Hosta, Brown Dog Books, Flemington, NJ
Ari Rockland-Miller, Cornell Garden-Based Learning, We’ll create handmade, nature-themed books from
Ithaca, NY materials that would otherwise be thrown away, and
The deployment cycle, including frequent moves, can develop techniques and methods, in writing and art,
take a particularly strong toll on children in military that can be applied to many other projects to enhance
families. The Cornell Garden-Based Learning Program is learning. Learn how this applied art project can be used
currently conducting a grant-funded project focused on to meet national educational standards in the areas
exploring the ways gardening can help military families of reading, writing, science and visual art. Along with
cope with these stresses. Whether or not you have your book, you’ll leave with a wealth of resources for
previously worked with military families, you will gain a continuing exploration on applied arts in the classroom
strong understanding of the rationale for gardening with or nature center. Fun guaranteed!
military families, as well as tangible ways to connect with
this audience and garden-based activities to share with
them.
D I G G I N G I N TO T H E
art and science of gardening
e d u c at i o n a l s e s s i o n s
Saturday, July 23rd - Pick one D session 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. and one E session 11:00 a.m. – 12:00
p.m.
D37 Science Alive - Teaching Sustainable Science E43 Create a Special-Needs Curriculum
Shannon Hardwicke, Theodore Judah Elementary Gwenn Fried, NYU Langone Medical Center,
School, Sacramento, CA New York, NY
Educating our youth about environmentally responsible Emily Remensperger, Pratt Institut, Brooklyn, NY
practices not only impacts their lives, but all the The Glass Garden at Rusk Institute, NYU Langone
others they educate in turn. This hands-on workshop Medical Center has developed a curriculum that blends
will explore how to teach science in creative, gardening, art, and pre-vocational skills for special-
engaging ways that will challenge students K-8th needs young people. Learn how you can develop
grade to practice waste reduction, water and energy a similar curriculum and generalize it to your own
conservation, and more. All ideas are easy to apply program or classroom. Evaluation tools, hand-outs,
and some may provide income for an environmental and worksheets will be provided.
education program.
E44 Evidence-Based Gardening
E41 A Collaborative “Roots to Mouth” Journey For
All Ages Anne Scott, CS Mott Group for Sutainable Food
Systems at MSU, East Lansing, MI
Dean Conners, Diane Conners, Sally Frye and Susan
Kushell Area Children’s Garden, Traverse City, MI We all know that school and youth gardens have many
positive impacts on children’s health, well-being, and
Working together towards a common community goal learning. Now we have the evidence to prove it! This
often yields results far beyond what working alone session will present the current findings from peer-
would. Inspired by Michigan State University’s 4-H reviewed literature and research in a format friendly
Children’s Garden founder Jane Taylor, 12 children’s to garden program leaders. Learn how to apply
organizations collaborated to create the Grand Traverse this evidence to your own garden program designs,
Area Children’s Garden and its “Roots to Mouth” evaluation plans, and grant writing strategies to
program in Traverse City, Michigan. We’ll dig into cultivate stronger and more effective results.
how this decade-long collaboration has successfully
included kids of all ages—including those with special
needs—growing, eating, cooking, sharing, and planting E45 Gardening Above the Treetops
seeds for future gardeners. Gary Wangler, St. Louis Children’s Hospital,
St. Louis, MO
E42 A Garden Program for the Colder Months The St. Louis Children’s Hospital features the Olson
Heather McCargo, The Bay School, Blue Hill, ME Family Garden, a Roof Top Healing Garden designed
for and affords solace, comfort and respite to its
Do you live in a climate where the landscape is frozen patients and their families. Find out how this garden
or in a freeze/thaw cycle during much of the school engages all the senses to provide distraction, spiritual
year? You can still run a school garden program using connectiveness, and restoration during times of stress
some innovative ideas from a school in downeast and uncertainty. You’ll gain insight into the many
Maine. Discover a variety of gardening and nature benefits a healing garden can offer and ideas for
study activities that can keep children’s hands in the programs that can enhance these spaces.
dirt growing plants, cooking with food from the garden
and greenhouse, outside exploring, and observing the
natural world during the colder months.
D I G G I N G I N TO T H E
art and science of gardening
e d u c at i o n a l s e s s i o n s
Saturday, July 23rd - Pick one D session 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. and one E session 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
challenges.
E46 Got Dirt? Garden Initiative E48 Opening Eyes and Doors
William Wright, Brown County UW-Extension, Karen Bussolini, Karen Bussolini Photography,
Green Bay, WI South Kent, CT
The Got Dirt? Garden Initiative is a statewide program Children learn about the world through all their senses.
designed to give teachers and childcare providers in We’ll look at easy ways to create sensory experiences
Wisconsin the skills and confidence necessary to start that will turn the whole garden into a discovery zone.
gardens at their facilities. Learn how this program In the process, this will open the door to learning
was developed, how it was implemented throughout about a variety of subjects such as history and science.
Wisconsin using a train-the-trainer approach, and the From studying garden wildlife to planting and eating
results of the research portion of the project, which colorful vegetables, gardens can provide boundless
involved over 1700 children and 25 gardens. opportunities for teaching children about their
environment.
E47 Greening School Grounds
Sylbia Kunst, Pioneer Education Center,
Pittsburgh, PA
Kara Roggenkamp, MTR Landscape Architects,
Pittsburgh, PA
Judy Wagner, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Pittsburgh, PA
The School Grounds Greening Project brings children
closer to nature by enhancing the grounds of all
66 Pittsburgh Public Schools with low-maintenance,
sustainable landscapes. Explore how a conservation
organization, school staff, and a landscape architect
collaborated to improve the educational environment
at these schools, including the creation of a sensory
garden for special needs students. If you’re considering
a similar project, come learn from our successes and