In the garden program at the Edible Schoolyard, we emphasize four main skills as the foundation for maintaining a healthy garden and incorporate jobs into every garden class that appeal to the diverse interests and energy levels of our students.
A typical garden class with 6th graders at the Edible Schoolyard is 86 minutes (1 hour and 26 minutes) and is divided into three main parts: Opening Circle, In the Field (work time), and Closing Circle.
In this seventh grade science lesson, students deepen their understanding of pollen and pollinators by using microscopes to observe pollen and bee species from the garden.
In this seventh grade science lesson, students identify desirable traits in plants and take cuttings from parent plants to facilitate asexual propagation and produce offspring with identical DNA.
In this seventh grade garden class, students review how the 4BEs can be applied in the garden (Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible and Be an Ally) and break into groups to work in the garden on different tasks.
The following is a list of considerations and strategies that have been effective for us in engaging our community. This is not comprehensive or exhaustive, but we hope it offers you some ideas for ways to engage your own communities.
The Edible Schoolyard uses Google Calendar for all scheduling and calendar needs. Below is our process and method for sharing important dates, volunteer schedules, and class times inter-organizationally as well as with our volunteers and external partners.
This resource provides the job descriptions for the staff at the Edible Schoolyard Project as of summer 2018. Also included below is our organizational chart and a grid showing the roles and responsibilities for staff members.
This resource shows how the Edible Schoolyard Project structures one-on-one between managers and employees. These meetings serve to get both people clear about task priorities, any concerns that may be present for the employee or supervisor, and what support might be provided.
The attached resource shows how the Edible Schoolyard Project structures our staff meetings. Each department holds weekly meetings, and following this format helps meetings be inclusive, efficient, productive, and energizing for staff.
