Next Generation of School Gardening

Next Generation of School Gardening

School Gardening Conference June 28, 2014 1

Next Generation of School Gardening 2014 Scho o l Gard ening C o nfe r e n c e Dear educators, It seems that everyone is using “the Next Generation” to label new standards, new ideas, and new products. The fact remains that the actual next generation of young people is facing some serious issues with health, education, employment, and the environment as the world changes around us. We need to approach the problem from different angles, including the way we teach school gardening.

This year’s conference theme reminds us how plants and school gardens benefit students in every respect. The conference includes sessions on basic gardening practices and good plant selections, garden-to-cafeteria programs, growing plants in the classroom, science and other curriculum connections, and research showing how plants around a school improve students’ emotional well-being and academic performance.

Thank you for joining us!

Katherine Johnson Teacher and Student Programs Director Chicago Botanic Garden

Table of Contents Keynote..................................................2 Session Descriptions......................... 2-10 Concurrent Session 1 ..........................3-4 Quick Reference Session Guide...........5-6 Concurrent Session 2 ..........................7-8 Concurrent Session 3........................ 8-10

The Chicago Botanic Garden’s education and community programs, including the School Gardening Conference, are generously supported by The Brinson Foundation, HSBC, and the Kemper Educational and Charitable Fund.

We would like to thank Whole Foods in Deerfield, Illinois, and the Whole Kids Foundation for their generous donation of the reusable bags and snacks, and to KIND, Lifeway Foods, Inc. and FarmedHere for the sample snacks for the teachers. Additionally, we are grateful to the following organizations for raffle donations: Chicago Roots Hydroponics and Organics, Pasquesi Home and Gardens, W. Atlee Burpee & Co., Tree T Pee, USDA Team Nutrition, Woolly Pocket Corporation, Strong Marketing Inc., and Flat Tire Brand.

Session Descriptions Keynote Speaker Nichols Hall

8:45 – 9:30 a.m.

William Sullivan, Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign

Landscapes for Learning: How a School Garden May Improve Student Success School landscapes impact students’ experience of stress and their capacity to pay attention. Does your school landscape support learning? Sullivan explores the emerging evidence.

Biography William Sullivan gets to wake up every morning and do things he loves. He is a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign, and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Sullivan and his students examine the health benefits that come from having regular exposure to urban green spaces. He and his colleagues have found that everyday contact with nature helps address some of the most pressing issues of our time: the strength of urban communities; levels of aggression, violence, and crime; and our capacity to pay attention. Sullivan and his students are currently measuring the impacts of urban nature on (a) reductions in stress and (b) the capacity of high school students to pay attention.

Break: 9:30 – 9:45 a.m.

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Concurrent Session I

9:45 – 11 a.m.

Growing a Healthy and Inclusive Garden Nichols Hall

Zak Goad, special education teacher, Maryville Jen School Susan Lichner, school counselor/garden coordinator, Maryville Jen School Come hear about Maryville Jen School’s garden program, which grew into a 28-bed garden that is a city block long! From beginning school gardeners to seasoned green thumbs, participants will be able to identify therapeutic benefits, valuable educational opportunities, and inclusive possibilities that gardening offers to strengthen their school community and enhance the lives of all learners.

Save Our Native Pollinators!

Pullman Room

Jim Doyiakos, environmental science teacher, Amundsen High School Learn to identify local pollinators, both native and introduced; design and build shelters to provide pollinator habitats; and identify native plants that provide food for pollinators.

You will also learn how to carry on Citizen Science projects in your own school garden, related to pollinators.

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Classroom Gardening: Tips, Techniques, and Connecting Standards Linnaeus Room

Becky Ammann, manager of teacher programs, Chicago Botanic Garden Gardening doesn’t just have to happen outside! Learn about ideas and resources for growing plants in your classroom. Discover ideas for hands-on activities and experiments using plants that support Next Generation Science and Common Core Standards.

Session participants will receive a plant or seeds to take back to their classrooms.

Ask a Horticulturist Growing Garden

Moshe Pinargote, horticulturist, Chicago Botanic Garden Board the trolley to the Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden for an expert demonstration and hands-on practice in gardening skills: transplanting, watering, and weeding. Get answers to your garden questions and learn about best plants for school gardens. Meet at the west portico.

Break

11 – 11:15 a.m.

Resource tables will be available in Nichols Hall.

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Next Generation of School Gardening J une 2 8 , 2 0 1 4 S c h o o l G a r de n i n g C o nfe r e n c e

Quick Reference Session Guide

8 – 8:30 a.m.

8:30 – 8:45 a.m.

Registration, Check-in, Networking, Coffee, and Rolls Nichols Hall Welcome and Introductions

Katherine Johnson, Chicago Botanic Garden Nichols Hall

8:45 – 9:30 a.m.

Keynote Speaker William Sullivan, Professor of Landscape Architecture,

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Nichols Hall

Break

9:30 – 9:45 a.m.

Breakout Sessions

9:45 – 11 a.m.

Nichols Hall

Pullman Room

Growing a Healthy and Inclusive Garden

Save our Native Pollinators!

Zak Goad and Susan Lichner, Maryville Jen School

Jim Doyiakos Amundsen High School

Healthy Role Models— a School Garden in Your Lunchbox?

11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Cheri Endler and

Andy Moss, Whole Foods Market

3:15 – 3:30 p.m.

3:30 – 4 p.m.

Becky Ammann, Chicago Botanic Garden

Ask a Horticulturist

Moshe Pinargote, Chicago Botanic Garden Meet by the west portico for trolley ride to the Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden.

Using the School Garden As an Extension of the Classroom

John Cawood Openlands

I Spy: Using Observation Skills in the Garden

Becky Ammann and Katherine Johnson, Chicago Botanic Garden

Ask a Horticulturist

Moshe Pinargote, Chicago Botanic Garden Meet by the west portico for trolley ride to the Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden.

Lunch in Nichols Hall; Windy City Harvest Youth Farm market in Krehbiel Gallery.

Visit the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Greenhouses and grounds.

Tour Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden with horticulturist Lisa Hilgenberg, Chicago Botanic Garden.

Gardening for All

2 – 3:15 p.m.

Classroom Gardening: Tips, Techniques, and Connecting Standards

Alternative Location

Break and Resource Tables in Nichols Hall

11 – 11:15 a.m.

12:30 – 2 p.m.

Linnaeus Room

Alicia Green, Chicago Botanic Garden Note location: Buehler Enabling Garden

Salad Science: Exploring the Triple Bottom Line

Eliza Fournier, Chicago Botanic Garden

STEM Projects

Allison Jackson, Lane Tech College Prep, and Todd Katz, Whitney M. Young Magnet High School

Break

Raffle, Evaluations, and CPDUs in Alsdorf Auditorium

Easy Inquiry in the Garden

Katherine Johnson, Chicago Botanic Garden Native Plant Garden

Concurrent Session 2

11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Healthy Role Models — a School Garden in Your Lunchbox?

Nichols Hall

Cheri Endler, marketing and community outreach specialist, Whole Foods Market Andy Moss, metro education and development lead, Whole Foods Market How do you incorporate plants and nutrition into your classroom curriculum? This session will explore principles and tools that empower us to be models of healthy eating by using a garden for inspiration. Participants will learn three simple principles for healthy eating choices, see a cooking demonstration using plant-based ingredients, and sample the recipes.

Using the School Garden As an Extension of the Classroom Pullman Room

John Cawood, education program coordinator, Openlands In this workshop, we will explore how the school garden can be used as a teaching tool across multiple disciplines that align with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Lesson planning tools and specific lesson plans will be shared.

I Spy: Using Observation Skills in the Garden Linnaeus Room

Becky Ammann, manager of teacher programs, Chicago Botanic Garden Katherine Johnson, teacher and student programs director, Chicago Botanic Garden Join us for a walking exploration to the Sensory Garden in search for plant patterns, colors, shapes, textures, and sizes. We will take weather measurements and show how the garden can be used to teach life cycles and seasons.

Ask a Horticulturist Growing Garden

Moshe Pinargote, horticulturist, Chicago Botanic Garden Board the trolley to the Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden for an expert demonstration and hands-on practice in gardening skills: transplanting, watering, and weeding. Get answers to your garden questions and learn about best plants for school gardens. Meet at the west portico.

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Lunch (Optional; Nichols Hall)

12:30 – 2 p.m.

Please feel free to wander through the Chicago Botanic Garden’s grounds or Greenhouses. Visit the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden for a variety of activities with our expert, horticulturist Lisa Hilgenberg, or attend the 1:30 p.m. Garden Chef Series. Stop by the FarmedHere table to receive your complimentary sample of locally grown salad or herbs.

Krehbiel Gallery

Stop by the Windy City Harvest Youth Farm market stand during the lunch break.

Concurrent Session 3

2:00 – 3:15 p.m.

Gardening for All Buehler Enabling Garden

Alicia Green, coordinator, Buehler Enabling Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden Come join the staff of the Buehler Enabling Garden and learn how plants empower students with developmental differences and the specific considerations that need to be addressed when gardening with students who have different abilities. Topics that will be covered include garden planning, choosing appropriate plant material, utilizing adaptive tools, and plant-based activities that are adaptable for students of all abilities. Participants will receive a tour of the Enabling Garden and participate in a sample activity. The session will be held in the Buehler Enabling Garden outdoor classroom and is limited to 24 participants.

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Salad Science: Exploring the Triple Bottom Line Pullman Room

Eliza Fournier, urban programs director, Windy City Harvest, Chicago Botanic Garden As environmentalists, we are taught about the “Triple Bottom Line”—the idea that businesses should consider people and the planet, along with profit. This workshop will use a simple salad-making competition as a tool to help young people understand this concept further by examining the social, health, environmental, and economic implications of the food choices we make. Come make a salad and take away a tool for your garden or classroom that will help you explain the importance of eating local, seasonal, and sustainably grown food.

STEM Projects: Aquaponics and Mycelia Project Linnaeus Room

Allison Jackson, biology teacher, Lane Tech College Prep Todd Katz, biology teacher, Whitney M. Young Magnet High School This presentation includes an overview of aquaponics, as well as the Lane Tech facilities and curriculum. We will look at a sample lesson that illustrates the aquatic nitrogen cycle, utilizing several Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Learn to motivate students to demonstrate incredible leadership roles and responsibilities while acquiring meaningful service learning hours around the topics of gardening, ecology, health, food, waste, energy, sustainability, education, community, and water.

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Easy Inquiry in the Garden Native Plant Garden

Katherine Johnson, teacher and student programs director, Chicago Botanic Garden This session will show you how to ask a testable question and perform simple science investigations in your garden. There will be demonstrations of five-minute and five-day activities that will get students thinking about flowers, pollinators, and patterns in nature.

Participants will walk to the Farwell Landscape Garden for these activities.

Break 3:15 – 3:30 p.m.

Raffle, Evaluation, and CPDUs: Alsdorf Auditorium 3:30 – 4 p.m.

Become a Member An education membership at the Chicago Botanic Garden entitles you to a 20 percent discount on teacher professional development programs and all other education courses.

It also entitles you to free year-round parking at the Garden (currently $25 per car), access to education resources to borrow, a biannual teacher newsletter, and all the regular benefits of membership. Stop by the membership desk in the Visitor Center, call (847) 835-8215, or go to chicagobotanicgarden.org/member to enroll or renew your membership today.

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One of the treasures of the Forest Preserves of Cook County

The Chicago Botanic Garden’s mission: We cultivate the power of plants to sustain and enrich life.