Southern Boone Learning Garden

The Southern Boone Learning Garden is located in Ashland, Missouri, and is affiliated with the Southern Boone County R-1 School District and community.  Ashland is in the center of the state, halfway between Columbia & our capital, Jefferson City.  The mission of the Southern Boone Learning Garden is to provide outdoor classroom space and resources; to facilitate fun, authentic learning experiences that challenge students to embrace positive life skills; and to promote collaborative efforts between the Learning Garden, the school district, and the community.

Our Learning Garden was started in 2007 by two parents (Jennifer Grabner & Lesli Moylan) passionate about youth gardening & environmental education, & also concerned about the high rates of childhood obesity, limited access to fresh fruits & vegetables, & the limited opportunities for hands-on learning in our school & community.  We began with a small after-school club for 3rd & 4th graders, but the program very quickly grew in popularity among students, teachers, & the community. 

Currently, we maintain 3 gardens (all on school grounds): the main Learning Garden is on the campus of the primary and elementary buildings (803 & 809 S. Henry Clay Blvd) and now encompasses nearly an acre of raised beds, hoop houses, & cultivated ground; the new middle school garden is located right by the main entrance (303 N. Main St) and includes a hoop house, 3 raised vegetable beds, and 2 landscaping/flower beds; the preschool garden (303 N. Main St) includes 2 raised vegetable beds, 1 strawberry bed, & 1 digging/exploring bed.

We are honored to be able to work frequently now with all 800 students & 38 teachers in the preschool through 5th grades, teaching at least 3 garden-based classes to each of those 40 classes every semester.  We are also significantly expanding our school-day work with middle and high school students and teachers, now working regularly with 6th grade science and world cultures classes, high school special education, and high school agriculture classes.  In addition, we offer the elementary garden club and a middle school cooking club each semester; and we work frequently with both the middle and high school agriculture/FFA clubs. We hope to also start offering a middle school garden club in the fall of 2015.  A major focus of all of our programming is to get as much Learning Garden produce as possible into both the school meals here at all 4 buildings, and for sale to the community at our local Southern Boone Farmers Market.

Our focus for the after-school club is to teach basic gardening concepts & skills while also providing increased exposure to and consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables, & whole grain foods.  Our focus for the school-day garden lessons is to 1) make hands-on connections to existing classroom curricula & learning objectives, 2) increase exposure to & interest in fresh fruits & vegetables, & 3) increase student awareness of environmental and conservation science issues and solutions.