Alder garden lesson plan

GoToServiceLearning is a project partnership between Youth Service America and America’s Promise Alliance, with generous support by the State Farm Companies Foundation

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Title of your Service-Learning Experience {Please enter the title of your service-learning experience or project. This is how visitors to the website will identify your lesson plan.}: Alder Elementary School Youth and Community Garden The Story {Tell us your story as it pertains to this service-learning experience – how you began, a summary of what occurred, and how the community responded. Please try to limit your response to no more than 200 words.}:

Perhaps the most note-worthy part of the Alder garden story is its slow growth over time, with continual gathering of new support and resources, community partnerships, and educational opportunities. The Alder Garden program is a dynamic one that takes new shape each season.

When we began, we didn’t do so with the intention of following a service-learning model – this is just where we’ve landed over time.

An Alder school-day teacher saw an opportunity to beautify an overgrown school courtyard, and submitted and received a grant to convert the space into the Alder Youth Garden.

Over time, this teacher left the Alder community and the management of the garden space was passed to Alder’s Community School Program, “Schools Uniting Neighborhoods,” (SUN) run by full-time staff of non-profit Metropolitan Family Service (MFS). To this day, the MFS SUN program is housed at Alder and works in close partnership with school and district leadership, students, and families. More information on Multnomah County SUN programs can be found at sunschools.org. More information on Metropolitan Family Service is at metfamily.org.

MFS SUN launched a partnership with Portland non-profit Growing Gardens (GG) (growing-gardens.org) who brought expertise in gardening maintenance, youth gardening education, and family involvement via gardens. GG helped expand the reach of the Alder Youth Garden and also helped build an entire second garden space for community gardeners – parents and families of Alder students.

Today, about eight years later, the Alder garden is used by MFS SUN for after school classes four days per week. 30 students at a time participate in eight-week Garden Clubs that teach science, art, literacy, math, etc through hands-on gardening activities.

The Alder Community Garden serves an average of nine families per growing season.

Our latest service-learning project, which is shared forth here, is a Plant Start Donation Project where youth in the Garden Club raise plant starts for donation to the community gardeners – many of whom are from families with extremely limited incomes.

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The Purpose and Essential Questions {What was the primary purpose of this lesson for you as a teacher? For the students? For the community? If you developed essential questions, please include them here. Please limit your response to no more than 200 words.}:

Primary Purpose for: The Teacher: Initially, the purpose was to beautify an overgrown space and to provide a green space for youth to utilize (Alder is a building surrounded by concrete and open grass, in a neighborhood with no green space). Over time, the primary purpose has grown into the garden functioning as a space where youth have ownership, experience hands-on learning, grow healthy habits, develop a relationship with nature, and foster a sense of community. The purpose of our Plant Start Donation Project in particular is to teach youth about plant life-cycle, healthy habits, and giving back to community and families.

The Students: Through involvement in Garden Club, youth participate in learning that supports their school-day lessons and is built around state benchmarks. They have a space to play, get dirty, and to call their own. All the garden planning is completed by the students, and all the art and decoration in the garden is created by the students.

Students have opportunity to taste healthy foods that they grew themselves, with a goal that this taste for vegetables will encourage healthy nutritional habits. The garden also helps to teach soft skills -- like teamwork, planning, sharing, and patience. Through the Plant Start Donation Project, students learn about the life cycle and resource needs of plants, and about giving back to their community.

The Community: The garden is managed by true collaborative effort -- with the leadership of two local non-profits; support of the school and district; involved community parents; business support; and student input. Additionally, through the Community Garden, community needs of hunger and family involvement at the school are addressed on a small, personal scale. Families work side by side with their neighbors and gain access to free, healthy food. The gain from our Plant Start Donation Project in particular is a connection to the school as more than just an educational resource, and access to a free, healthy, empowering food source.

A favorite question we ask of students: "If you could grow this seed into a plant to take home for yourself or to give away to a person who might need that plant to get food, which would you want to do?" (All kids so far have picked that they wanted to grow plants for families who needed that resource.)

Service-Learning Theme {Click on or type X on ALL the themes that apply to your service-learning experience}: AIDS Awareness and Education Animals Elders Emergency Readiness Environment Gardening Healthy Choices

Immigration Literacy & Mentoring Poverty, Hunger, Homelessness Safe Communities Social Change Special Needs and Disabilities

Place of Impact {What place or kind of community benefited from your service-learning experience? Click/X ALL that apply}: School Local Community National Global Virtual

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Community Need {What community need did this service-learning experience address? Please try to limit your response to no more than 200 words.}:

In the 2009-2010 school year, 98% of students at Alder qualify for free or reduced cost lunch. Many report being hungry at home, and access most of their meals during the school day. Families regularly turn to the school for support in the form of food boxes and other anti-poverty services. Affordable access to healthy food and hunger are two community needs in the Alder School community.

Many Alder families live in small apartments with a lack of access to green spaces. The school itself is surrounded by concrete and flat grass, with very few trees or plants on the school grounds. Access to nature and greenspace is not immediately easy for many Alder students. There is a community need for students to have opportunities to connect to nature and play outside in safe green spaces -- to experience life outside of their apartments.

The Oregon Department of Education Report Card for Alder Elementary reflects current "Need for Improvement." Many students are behind academically, and struggling to meet or exceed state benchmark test scores for their grade level. There is a community need for additional educational support for students.

Alder Elementary School is part of the Rockwood neighborhood of Gresham, OR. Rockwood is a diverse area with many strengths, but unfortunately most notably recognized as a community with a high rate of crime and gang activity. There is a community need for youth to have a safe place to be during after school hours -- when statistics show youth crime is at its highest. There is also a community need for empowering programs for youth and community members in general, and for a sense of community ownership of clean, welcoming spaces.

Our project addresses all of these needs: students receive skillbuilding supports for their success in a safe space during after school hours. The Alder gardens are true community spaces, and provide access to green space and low-cost/free healthy food.

Community Partners {Who in the community (individuals, businesses, government offices, and/or organizations) participated? Please limit your response to no more than 200 words.}:

* Reynolds School District (in-kind: physical space, water, maintenance services) * City of Gresham Department of Environmental Services (small grant) * SOLV (small grant, logistical support, volunteers, in-kind: waste hauling and support for volunteer work day) * Metropolitan Family Service "Schools Uniting Neighborhoods" program (staff time, curriculum, financial resources, overall project and garden coordination) * Multnomah County (primary funder for MFS SUN program) * East Portland Neighborhood Office (grant funds for community garden remodel) * Devoes Farm (in-kind: compost) * Growing Gardens (curriculum, staff time, logistical consultation, seeds, soil, and other garden materials) * Willamette Carpenters Training Center (in-kind: garden shed) * Americorps (volunteers to rebuild Community Garden) * Fred Meyer (grant to help pay for class) -- through MFS * A handful of small local businesses (plant starts, seeds, gift certificates, food) * Rockwood Neighborhood Association (community leadership) * Gresham Outlook (publicity) * Mutual Materials (discount on building materials) * Oregon Food Band (soil and compost)

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* Oregon Zoo (compost) * Multnomah County Library (books and curriculum) * 4-H (curriculum and staff) * Lauren Davis (author -- shared her book and seeds) Grade Level

{Click on or type X on ALL that apply to your service-learning experience}: K-3 (Early Elementary) 4-6 (Upper Elementary) 6-8 (Middle School) 9-12 (High School)

Target Population {Click on or type X on ALL that apply to your service-learning experience}: All Students Youth with Special Needs Youth at Risk of Dropping Out

Setting {Click on or type X on ALL that apply to your service-learning experience}: Suburban Rural Urban

Duration {Click on or type X on ALL that apply to your service-learning experience}: 1-4 weeks 4-9 weeks More than 9 weeks

Link to Curriculum, part A {Click/X ALL academic subjects that apply.}: Agriculture Art Business Career Exploration Engineering English Language Arts Family and Consumer Sciences Foreign Languages Health Sciences

Life Skills Math Music Physical Education Science Social Studies Speech and Communication Technology Theater

Link to Curriculum, part B (a) State Standards being met: (We require at least one (1) standard but recommend that 3-5 be filled out to emphasize the application of service-learning lesson across multiple subjects): (1) State (example: Connecticut): Oregon Subject (example: Health): Science Definition: 2.2 Interaction and Change: Living and non-living things change.

(2) State (example: Connecticut): Oregon Subject (example: Health):

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Science Definition: 5.2 Interaction and Change: Force, energy, matter, and organisms interact within living and non-living systems.

(3) State (example: Connecticut): Oregon Subject (example: Health): Health Education Definition: Health Skills: CCG: Demonstrate ability to use health skills, to obtain and interpret health information, to manage personal behaviors and to advocate for healthy and safety issues.

(4) State (example: Connecticut): Oregon Subject (example: Health): Health Education Definition: Promotion of Healthy Eating: CCG: Demonstrate self-management, analyzing influences, goal-setting and advocacy skills while understanding the components of healthy eating.

(5) State (example: Connecticut): Oregon Subject (example: Health): Arts Definition: CCG: Understand how the arts can reflect the environment and personal experiences within a society or culture, and apply to one’s own work. (b) Content Areas of major themes of study: Arts, Health, Mathematics, Science, English Language Arts (c) Skills being introduced or developed: Read; Write; Speak/Listen; Personal Management & Teamwork; Think Critically & Analytically; Apply Math; Civic & Community Engagement Career-Related Learning: Personal Management; Teamwork; Problem Solving Books, Media, Websites, and other Resources: kidsgardening.com Growing Gardens: growing-gardens.org OSU Extension Service: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/ Multnomah County Library Scholastic "Seedfolks" by Paul Fleischman "Diary of a Worm" by Doreen Cronin "Giggles the GreenBean turns Stinky Town into Green Town" by Lauren Davis

Five Stages of Service-Learning (Investigation, Preparation and Planning, Action, Reflection, and Demonstration)

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{PLEASE ARTICULATE WHAT OCCURRED IN EACH STAGE AS A STEP-BY-STEP SEQUENCE. Include how reflection was integral within each stage in addition to its all-encompassing role as “Reflection,” stage four of the five.}:

Investigation: Making small choices -- elementary aged kids. ll Reflection: Preparation and Planning: Planning a garden, choosing what to grow, building timelines, determining resources to grow (plant life-cycle and nutrient needs), plan curriculum and lesson plans, mapping the garden, purpose of space, individual roles and responsibilities (working in garden teams that focus on one specific task) ll Reflection: Garden journals, photo documentation of garden at start of project Action: Teamwork and involvement, Planting, maintaining, transplanting, giving plants to community gardeners (celebration) ll Reflection: Garden journals, photo documentation Reflection: Ongoing -- continuation of journals and photo documentation Demonstration: Giving away the plants, sending kids home with plants, kids sharing forward with the next group of youth gardeners ll Reflection: Ongoing -- continuation of journals and photo documentation; end of session celebrations and sharing learning with school community (teachers, parents) Public Relations {Media Attention, participation by or information provided to Elected Officials, and other forms of Presentation.

Please limit your response to 200 words or less.} The Alder Gardens hosted a visit from the Mayor, city officials, and Neighborhood Association President -- they were looking at the garden as a model for future community gardens.

Since the initial building of the Community Garden, the beds deteriorated and a community volunteer event was organized to rebuild the beds. Funding for materials came from a grant from the local Neighborhood Association.

The Youth Garden Club has received media coverage from local paper, the "Gresham Oulook." A link to the article is available online at http://www.theoutlookonline.com/features/story.php?story_id=118292262658846600 Assessment and Evaluation {How did you assess student learning and the service outcomes achieved? What role did students have in the assessment and evaluation process? What role did community partners have in the assessment and evaluation process?}:

MFS SUN is a school-based program, and the primary evaluation we've performed is from the stand-point of student success -- looking at gains in academic performance, attitude toward school, soft skill development like teamwork skills, and improved attendance during the school day.

We use four primary assessment methods: 1) a teacher survey where school-day teachers provide feedback on student growth over a school-year (we recognize that growth isn't only created through involvement in Garden Club, but through a variety of influences) 2) student pre- and post- tests specifically designed to assess skills learned in Garden Club

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3) student surveys where students provide feedback on their participation in the MFS SUN program overall (including in Garden Club) 4) reviewing benchmark test scores and student attendance data We've been quite fortunate to have technical assistance with the evaluation of our project over time. MFS SUN's funder (Multnomah County) helps us to gather review student data. Growing Gardens as a non-profit community partner also has surveyed student learning specific to the garden.

Here is what we've noticed: In 2008-2009, out of students who attended SUN after school programming (including Garden Club) for 30 days or more: * 74% of students increased benchmark scores in Reading * 83% of students increased benchmark scores in Math * Average daily attendance of SUN CS students was 96% According to teachers, of students who regularly attended SUN CS: * 90% improved classroom academic performance * 80% improved getting homework in on time * 83% improved positive attitude toward school * 78% improved finding alternative resolutions to problems Lessons Learned and Next Steps {What did you discover about service-learning through this experience? What would you do differently? How will you advance your service-learning practice?}:

The most important learning that we received through this project has been that children really do learn through process -- that letting them take the lead, experience the failures and successes on their own -- with opportunity to correct mistakes -- creates the best forum for learning for them. If they plant their seed too closely together and don't thin them out, their plant might not grow as healthy and strong. Seeing things like this are a great opportunity for kids to connect the dots between taking care and patience in the process, in order to have the strongest finished product.

We also learned the value of ongoing projects -- that over time, more community members, businesses, kids, teachers can plug into what we do. We learned that small pieces of the project are great ways to engage partners, without it being much extra effort on our part.

We will certainly to continue and expand the work we're doing, particularly by adding in additional opportunities for our Youth Gardeners to share their learning with other children, by adding in more time for reflection, and by celebrating more of our successes.

About the Teacher {Tell us about yourself. How long have you been teaching? How long have you been utilizing service-learning practices? What has been influential or helpful in becoming a service-learning practitioner? Please limit your response to 200 words or less.}:

Kathy Barry is the Garden Club Activity Leader at Alder Elementary School. She's a parttime employee of Metropolitan Family Service, working in the Community School SUN program at Alder.

Kathy's a community member, and a parent of two Alder Elementary "graduates." She began her work at Alder as the President of the Parent Teacher Group, and three years ago began teaching through MFS SUN's after school program. Her daughter is a former participant in the Alder Garden Club.

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Kathy completed 40 hours of training through the Garden Educator Certificate Program at Growing Gardens. She plans gardening curriculum seasonally based on Oregon's climate and what work can be performed in the garden at what time of year. She frequently ties in creative art projects, literacy activities such as maintaining a garden journal, science lessons focusing primarily on plant life cycle and environmental science, health information, and math lessons such as garden planning maps and seed spacing.

In her work, Kathy values getting to share learning experiences and working with youth outside of a classroom setting. Service-Learning is still reasonably new to her, but has taught her to network more throughout the community. As a model of teaching and learning, it provides a big picture of how we are all tied together and how we impact kids in the community.

About the School {Tell us about your school. Please limit your response to 200 words or less.}:

Alder Elementary School is part of Reynolds School District and serves about 600 students in grades K-5. “At Alder School, we strive to be a community of lifelong learners, to honor diversity and to pursue excellence.�

Alder Elementary School is proud of the diversity of our families and the dedication of our staff. With almost 650 students and about 62 staff members, Alder is a busy, productive community. At Alder we focus on the "whole" child, providing social and emotional enrichment as well as quality academic instruction. We have high expectations for all our students as they become lifelong learners.

Alder's demographic make-up: 79% Students of Color (Hispanic 64%, Asian/Pacific Islander 7%, Black 7%, Native American 1%, Multi-racial 55%, White 21%).

In 2009-2010, 98% of Alder students qualify for Free or Reduced Cost Lunch. About 70% of Alder students participate in the school's English Language Learner program.