The Vitality of Gardens: Energizing the Learning Environment

T h e V i ta l i t y o f G a r d e n s :
E n e rgi z i ng t h e l e a r n i ng e n v i r o n m e n t
Thursday, July 22 - Pick one A session - 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
A1 Beyond the Trowel: Using Scientific Tools
in the Garden
Kitty Connolly and Rachel Vourlas, The Huntington
Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens,
San Marino, CA
Studies have shown that hands-on opportunities to use
real science instruments—such as microscopes and
nutrient meters—help children and youth to develop
their scientific skills and passion for plants. Using
methods and designs from the Huntington’s award-winning
exhibition, “Plants are up to Something,”
participants will learn how to successfully integrate
science into dynamic, impactful garden-based
programming. This lively workshop will be full of
hands-on opportunities and practical tips, plus
instructions and resources for introducing authentic
botanical science experiences into your program.
A2 Biodynamic Composting for Middle School
Dory Rindge, Southern California Master Gardener
Program, Pasadena, CA
Kate Schlesinger, Ocean Charter School -
North Campus, Los Angeles, CA
Build a biodynamic compost pile and learn about the
history and tenets of this approach to gardening that
views the garden as a self-sufficient organism. Session
attendees will participate in an actual lesson plan for
teaching students how to create a biodynamic compost
pile, as well as an introduction to the principles of
biodynamic gardening, the ingredients in biodynamic
preparations, soil health, crop rotation, and how to apply
the concepts of biodynamics in a school garden setting.
e d u c at i o n a l S e ssi o n s
A3 Dish Out a Kid’s Garden
Jennifer Manning, Three Rivers Garden Design,
Greensboro, NC
Container dish gardens are a great way to work up
some gardening fun and they are terrific projects to
teach children a few planting basics. In this hands-on
workshop learn how each step can be used to teach
youth about the joys of gardening-from the basics of
container gardening to plant selection and care.
A4 From Plants to Potions—Making Medicine from
the School Garden
Lisa Ludwigsen, School Garden Co., Petaluma, CA
Explore herbalism and ways we can use plants to care
for ourselves. This hands-on workshop will demonstrate
making a simple-yet-effective healing salve and lip
balm from common schoolyard plants—from growing
and processing the plants to creating and packaging
the products for personal use, gifts, and program
fundraising. This project can be taught as one lesson
or encompass many lessons and tie in with history,
biology, math, environmentalism and more. Not only do
students learn a valuable use of plants but they begin to
look at plants and the garden in new and exciting ways.
Participants will leave with samples created during the
workshop and ideas for working with K-12 students in a
variety of settings and with a minimal budget.
A5 Green from the Ground Up—Growing Healthy
Kids & Plants in Your Gardening Program
Amy Berens, Crown Point Ecology Center, Bath, OH
Discover how the farm at Crown Point Ecology Center
in Bath, Ohio, cultivates crops of healthy kids as well
as vegetables through its garden camp program each
summer. Find out what it takes to create a program
that actively engages and connects youth to the food
cycle from planting, tending, harvesting, and eating
fruits and vegetables. We will explore hands-on
gardening and nature activities, organizational tips
to save time and resources, and kid-friendly cooking
activities to share the harvest.

Thursday, July 22 - Pick one A session - 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. [continued]
A6 High School Volunteers in the Garden:
Harvesting Potential
Gregg Hunt, Jeff Karsner, Mollie Swaner, High School
Volunteer, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and
Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA
Large-scale youth volunteering projects offer students
opportunities for leadership development, professional
exposure, hands-on experience, and specialized
learning. But what if your institution doesn’t have the
budget for an in-depth, mentor-based high-school
volunteer program? In this session we will highlight
the Huntington’s High-School Volunteer Program as a
robust, small-scale component of our volunteer team.
Learn about the key components of the program and
the projects the youth participate in, ranging from
assisting staff and instructors with public programs and
facilitating demonstrations to working in the gardens.
A7 One-Stop School Gardening: Building a
State-Wide School Garden Network
Mike Kerkman, The Huntington Library, Art Collections,
and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA
Briana Lewis, Western Growers Foundation, Irvine, CA
Hope Wilson, Dept. of Public Health, Sacramento, CA
Participants will learn about the process of building
and sustaining an effective statewide clearinghouse
for school garden information. The California School
Garden Network will be used as a model to guide
participants in selecting partners, board members,
content, and dissemination methods for a similar
network in their own home states. Find out how the
Network serves as an important statewide hub for
information about creating, sustaining, funding,
provisioning, and teaching from school gardens.
A8 Taking your Classroom Outdoors with OBIS
(Outdoor Biology Instructional Strategies)
Karen Mendelow Nelson, Lawrence Hall of Science,
Berkeley, CA
Discover diversity in schoolyards and gardens by
conducting ecological investigations using OBIS, which
was developed at Lawrence Hall at the University of
California–Berkeley. In this workshop, attendees will
participate in a sampling of outside activities designed
to motivate youngsters ages 10 to 15 to become
engaged in the natural world and learn science
concepts. Attendees will take home ideas for activities
that link gardening and ecology and model opportunities
for student inquiry, linking to science standards.
A9 Tough Love—Learning from Succulents and
Mother Nature
Jim Folsom, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and
Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA
Learn from one of Mother Nature’s top water
conservers—succulents—through an in-depth
exploration of the Huntington Desert Garden. One of
the largest and oldest assemblages of cacti and other
succulents in the world, the garden features more than
5,000 species of succulents from two dozen families
in 10-acres. Discover how plants can survive on a
low-water life and still look great as the Huntington
Gardens staff teach you how to grow these fascinating
plants indoors or outdoors (if you climate allows).
A10 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Schoolyard
Habitat Program
Carolyn Kolstad, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,
Sacramento, CA
Carolyn Martus, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,
Carlsbad, CA
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Schoolyard Habitat
Program has been creating habitats and outdoor
classrooms across the nation for over 15 years.
Come discover how to create a habitat for wildlife
and learning, and the activities to engage students
throughout the planning, implementation, and habitat
use! Learn about native plants and their many benefits
while designing your own schoolyard habitat project.

Friday, July 23 - Pick one B, C, and D session - 1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
B11 Art and Artists in Your Children’s Garden
Alan Rader, Terra Designs Studios, Pittsburgh, PA
Mary Helen Butler, Memphis Botanic Garden,
Memphis, TN
Art can teach, enrich, and provide moments of clarity
or joy. It can also serve to remind us of our place
in the larger world. The Memphis Botanic Garden
incorporated artist’s work into their children’s garden
to create memorable and educational moments for
children and adult visitors. Learn about the process of
locating, engaging, and working with artists to bring art
to your children’s garden. Discussion topics will include
the tools the garden used in finding and working
with the artists and the planning issues the garden
addressed including: acquisition, safety, accessibility,
and donations.
B12 Designing and Sustaining School Gardens and
Green Schoolyards
Arden Bucklin-Sporer and Rachel Pringle, San Francisco
Green Schoolyard Alliance, San Francisco, CA
Sharon Danks, Bay Tree Design, Berkeley, CA
Join the authors of How to Grow a School Garden: A
Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers and Asphalt
to Ecosystems: Transforming School Grounds—for an
informative session about conceiving, designing, and
sustaining green schoolyards and school gardens.
Get detailed advice on how to: secure support from
administrators, raise money, build a kid-friendly garden,
manage volunteers, and ensure a smooth transition at
the beginning of each school year. Learn about a wide
range of green schoolyard design ideas and how to
weave your school’s interdisciplinary curricula into the
landscape. You will take away valuable lesson plans
and activities for a range of ages.
B13 Designing Outdoor Play Environments for
Children in the United Kingdom
Lolly Tai, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
Sedentary lifestyles that do not encourage outdoor
activity are contributing to obesity and other health
problems for today’s urban children as well as a sense
of disconnection from nature. The United Kingdom
has been a leader in addressing this problem.This
presentation will summarize creative designs used in the
United Kingdom to provide constructive opportunities
for children to play outdoors in natural settings.
B14 Gardening with Hospitalized Children:
Launching a Successful Program
Sandy Baggott, Kristin Boettger, and Becky Feasby,
Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary, Alberta
The therapeutic benefits of gardening have been
recognized for a long time. Learn about how the
Alberta Children’s Hospital in Canada launched its
Healing Gardens Program and how horticultural and
art therapy are being used in a pediatric hospital
setting. Discover how gardening programs on the
hospital’s 30-acre site are offering opportunities for
patients to work on physical, social, cognitive, and
emotional rehabilitation in a way that also connects
them to nature and plants.
B15 Grant Writing 101
Maureen Lok, The Center for Children & Young Adults;
Cobb County Master Gardener, Marietta, GA
Funding is essential for the operation of any non-profit
gardening program. This session will focus on the steps
involved in basic grant writing. We will discuss how
to tell a story and introduce characters to strengthen
your proposal for funding. We will also provide various
sources available for funding horticulture-related
activities. If your organization is not a non-profit, we
will discuss how you can partner with a non-profit to
expand your funding options.

Friday, July 23 - Pick one B, C, and D session - 1:15 – 2:15 p.m. [continued]
B16 Greening Your Thumb: Common Garden
Solutions
C. Darren Butler, LA County Master Gardener,
Consulting Horticulturist/Arborist, Tarzana, CA
Seeds won’t sprout? Plants look yellow and sickly?
Bell peppers the size of your thumbnail? Brown,
curling leaves? Lush plants refuse to produce flowers
or vegetables? Most plant problems result from one
or more simple, often interrelated, conditions such as
incompatible soil pH, overwatering or underwatering,
overfertilization, and inappropriate plant choice. This
session will help you recognize, understand, and learn
about solutions for plant problems that may have
puzzled and frustrated you for years.
B17 Growing Gardeners: Developing Education to
Inspire our Children
Lorrie Baird and Nancy Bowley, Longwood Gardens,
Kennett Square, PA
Longwood Gardens’ magnificent fountains and displays
are world-renowned, but with all the grandeur, how
does its children’s garden compete for attention? Hear
about how Longwood has successfully bolstered its kid
appeal through thoughtful plant selections, a specially
designed volunteer program that allows for great
creative interaction between staff and children, and
inspiring take-home plant projects for young visitors.
B18 How Can Public Gardens Best Engage Schools?
Erin Marteal, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Based on Masters degree research project conducted
through Cornell University’s Public Garden Leadership
fellowship program, this session will illuminate
the factors that most engage, as well as inhibit,
school participation in public garden educational
programming. Find out how to effectively reach teachers
and broaden awareness of public gardens not just as
field-trip destinations, but venues for teaching professional
development and hosting off-site school programs.
B19 Cultivating Creativity in the Garden
Marcia Eames-Sheavly, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Discover how to lead innovative art- and garden-based
activities! Gain inspiration from the array of
Cornell Garden-Based Learning garden arts activities,
all available to you via the web. Then be led through
a creative process to design activities that fit your
garden’s mission and meet your intended outcomes.
If you work in a garden and engage youth, this
program is for you.
B20 The Victory Garden Project—Youth Farming
Food
Elizabeth Driscoll, NC State University, Raleigh, NC
The Victory Garden Project is a North Carolina 4-H
program that seeks to renew youth’s connection to
sustainable, local food production by furthering their
skills in growing fruits and vegetables. Hear about
young people learning to graft heirloom tomatoes and
stalking persnickety insect pests while deepening your
understanding of sustainable agriculture. Participants
will explore ideas for starting a sustainable gardening
program with youth and take home experiential
activities that engage youth in local food production.

Friday, July 23 - Pick one B, C, and D session - 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
C21 Garden Design and Crops for Watershed Health
Ann English, Montgomery County Department of
Environmental Protection, RainScapes Program,
Rockville, MD
High-school horticulture programs offer the opportunity
to introduce students to a variety of “green” jobs,
especially those related to new low-impact, plant-based
development techniques for stormwater management.
This session will explore how high-school programs
can take advantage of projects that use plants to solve
environmental problems caused by stormwater runoff
and create beauty at the same time.
C22 Garden to Table at Baltimore Montessori Public
Charter
Denzel Mitchell and Jill Wrigley, Baltimore Montessori
Public Charter School, Baltimore, MD
Learn how the urban elementary Baltimore Montessori
Public Charter School has created a dynamic garden-to-
table program where students grow fruits and
vegetables, prepare healthy snacks and meals, keep
bees, create compost, and more! You will hear about
how an asphalt playground was replaced with a
green and growing learning and playspace, as well
as how the program was developed, how its various
components are managed, and how the school’s
students have responded to it.
C23 Gardening Beyond the Gates: Launching The
New York Botanical Garden’s Partnership with
an Urban Public School
Toby Adams, The New York Botanical Garden,
Bronx, NY
This presentation will reveal the successes and
challenges of The New York Botanical Garden’s pilot
program to establish a garden and gardening programs
off-site at a local public school (grades pre-K to 8) in
the Bronx. Explore the nuts and bolts of extending a
gardening program into the community and learn how
this partnership developed from idea to implementation.
C24 Gardening Program for At-Risk Children &
Teens
Maureen Lok, The Center for Children & Young Adults;
Cobb County Master Gardener, Marietta, GA
Hear the story of how the Cobb County, Georgia
Master Gardeners became involved at the Center
for Children & Young Adults and how the program
evolved. The gardening program at the Center for
Children & Young Adults, a long-term residential
shelter for abused and abandoned children and teens,
involves participants in outdoor activities that provide
opportunities for leadership, self-expression, anger
management, and meaningful work. Session attendees
will not only learn the nuts and bolts of the program,
but will also find out how to begin a similar program,
get suggestions on how to provide for the needs
of an ever-changing population, leverage publicity
opportunities, find collaborative partners, and more.
C25 Growing and Funding an Urban Community
Youth Garden
Sharee Cooper, Community Services Consortium,
Corvallis, OR
Rachel Karasick, CSC Youth House Gardens,
Corvallis, OR
Find out how the Community Services Consortium
Youth Garden in Oregon was started through creative
funding and partnerships—and how it is offering low-income,
at-risk youth paid learning experiences that
benefit the community. Learn about the creative model
for the project that utilizes entrepreneurship, donations,
and federal Workforce Investment Act funding. The
infrastructure of the program will be discussed and a
first-hand account of this aspect of the program will be
provided by a former youth gardener. There will also be
a discussion of the feasibility of using this structure for
other programs and the benefits of pay as incentive for
youth garden programs.

Friday, July 23 - Pick one B, C, and D session - 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. [continued]
C26 Implementing Themed Gardens on a Small
Scale and Budget
Julie Foster, Linda Foster, and Susan Mueller, Taconi
Elementary, Ocean Springs, MS
Hear the story of how the staff at Taconi Elementary
in Mississippi created themed mini-gardens and
educational stations that include all students, no
matter their level of learning ability, as well as all their
teachers. Find out how themes like “Cool Plants,”
“Snacks,” “Pollinators,” “Scroungers,” and “Victory!”
have been brought to life at the school. This session
will provide helpful insights into working with a small
budget, garnering interest from peers, and rallying
community members for support.
C27 Sowing Seeds of Love: Turning the Cycle of
Violence into a Cycle of Growth
Nancy Cipes and Linda Preuss, Sojourn Services for
Battered Women and Children, Los Angeles, CA
Learn how youth living in shelters are able to replace
cycles of violence in their lives with cycles of growth
by tending a garden—caring for and raising healthy
plants. Hear from the creator of the program and a
certified edible landscape designer about the program
dynamics that contribute to the healing process and
empowerment of children who are the witnesses or
survivors of domestic violence.
C28 Taking a Clue from Nature
Mia Lehrer, Mia Lehrer + Associates, Los Angeles, CA
Discover a fun and creative approach to teaching
environmental issues to children and youth. You will
come away with a working understanding of “nature
services,” a term that explores the role that nature
plays in benefiting people— including life-supporting
processes such as filtering water and producing
oxygen. This session will provide a method of engaging
children and youth to better understand and appreciate
these processes and examine how people can most
successfully interact with nature.
C29 Using Growing Up WILD to Reach Early–
Childhood Audiences
Josetta Hawthorne, Council for Environmental
Education, Houston, TX
Growing Up WILD (GUW), an early-childhood
environmental education program from the Council for
Environmental Education, is now being offered in 38
states. Through a wide range of actvities and experiences,
GUW provides an early foundation for developing
positive impressions about nature and lifelong social
and academic skills. Learn about the program and find
out how you, as a GUW partner, can provide training to
early-childhood educators. All participants will take home
a GUW guide with 27 hands-on activities that connect
children ages 3 - 7 to nature.
C30 Wealth in Diversity: LA County School Gardens
Nora Dvosin, Herb Machleder, Yvonne Savio, and Nat
Zappia, University of California Cooperative Extension,
Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles County Master Gardeners have helped
establish some 300 school gardens that reflect the
diversity of their communities and their organizers.
Local Cooperative Extension leaders will offer insights
into three different approaches to school gardens.
Learn about resources available to garden organizers,
find out what happens as projects evolve over time, and
hear about the role that grants and state funding have
played in California’s school gardening movement.

Friday, July 23 - Pick one B, C, and D session - 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
D31 Cool Kid Plants 2010 and Beyond
Norman Lownds, 4-H Children’s Garden,
East Lansing, MI
Learn what is new in 2010 for Cool Kid Plants, a plant
selection program where youth do all of the evaluation
and selections are based solely on their input.
Sponsored by the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden and
the American Horticultural Society, Cool Kids Plants
is a unique way to engage youth across the nation in
deciding what plants are cool to grow. Discover how
your garden and the youth you work with can become
a part of this program.
D32 Cultivating Academic Success with Garden
Therapy
Rita Howard, Wellness Gardens, Fair Oaks, CA
Life comes with a variety of traumas, some of which
we cannot shield our children from. Family economic
crises, immigration, or a death in the family are some
of the common experiences that may affect a student’s
academic success. Learn how a K-8th grade school
garden therapy program can help cultivate academic
success for students as they navigate the challenges of
their day–to–day lives.
D33 Funding Your School Garden
Mud Baron, Los Angeles Unified School District, Los
Angeles, CA
Without water, your garden will die. Without funding,
your garden program will wither, too. Participants will
learn about funding opportunities in the corporate,
government, foundation, and private sectors, strategies
for cultivating donors to meet the predictable needs of a
school garden program, and ways to grow a donor base.
D34 Got Badges?
Dave Francis, Utah State University Extension, 4-H at
Thanksgiving Point, Lehi, UT
The garden is a great place for young people to earn
badges for various youth programs. Using the Utah State
University Extension 4-H partnership with the Boy and Girl
Scouts programs as a model, find out how a variety of
hands-on activities in the garden can teach science and
citizenship to meet youth program badge requirements.
D35 Grow a Poem
Dar Hosta, Brown Dog Books, Flemington, NJ
Dar Hosta, author and illustrator of the acclaimed
children’s book, I Am a Tree, gives a fun, informative
look at how to integrate creative writing into the
classroom, library, or nature center. Learn how to think
about creativity in a new, more all-encompassing
way, and how to transfer this to your students through
collaborative creative-writing sessions that can be
completed in only 15 minutes. Session attendees will
leave with resources for mentor texts, poetry books,
web sites, easy lesson plans and more.
D36 Regional Support Networks for Sustaining
School Gardens
John Fisher, Life Lab, Santa Cruz, CA
Jane Hirschi, City Sprouts, Cambridge, MA
Regional School Garden Support Networks help school
garden support professionals create garden advocates,
build community, and lay the foundation for long-term
sustainability. In this session, you will learn about the
best resources for curriculum use and dissemination,
effective networking and communication, funding, and
creation and maintenance of multiple school gardens.
You will also hear highlights of the School Garden
Sustainability Summit hosted by the Life Lab Science
Program in 2009.

Friday, July 23 - Pick one B, C, and D session - 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. [continued]
D37 Starting a Hands-On Gardening Course
for Teachers
Shelley Mitchell, Oklahoma State University,
Stillwater, OK
In the spring of 2010, Oklahoma State University
piloted a hands-on gardening course for teachers in
area schools to provide them the necessary gardening
skills for them to incorporate gardening into their
classroom curriculum. Participants will learn the
rationale behind the creation of the course, have
the opportunity to review the syllabus of lessons
and activies, hear how the course progressed (both
successes and challenges), and discuss the potential
applications and future of the course in Oklahoma and
elsewhere.
D38 Sustainable Children’s Gardening, Passing the
Torch
Mary McLean, Arlington Public Schools, Arlington, VA
Come see how Tuckahoe Elementary School in
Arlington, Virginia has kept “growing” Peter Rabbit’s
Garden, which was featured during the 2003 National
Children & Youth Garden Symposium. Journey through
the successes and challenges of this award-winning
discovery schoolyard and learn how the community has
come together to expand and improve the program
from one school year to the next.
D39 The Silicon Garden: Technology Projects in
School Gardens
Shawn Akard and Jason Pittman, Hollin Meadows
Science and Math Focus School, Alexandria, VA
School gardens and integrated technology are two
rapidly-growing phenomena in education. Participants
will enjoy demonstrations that use technology resources
to provide meaningful educational experiences in the
school garden. Among the projects to be demonstrated
are: weather forecasting using podcasts and closed
circuit TV; investigating the tasks of the Mars rovers
using Lego robotics in the garden; and using SKYPE
online communications and interactive journals in the
garden.
D40 Three Approaches to School-Based Learning in
the Garden
Toby Adams, The New York Botanical Garden,
Bronx, NY
Michelle Cugini, Longwood Gardens,
Kennett Square, PA
Cate Rigoulot , Camden Children’s Garden,
Camden, NJ
The New York Botanic Garden’s Family Garden,
Longwood Gardens’ Nurturing Curiosity Program,
and the distance learning program at the Camden
Children’s Garden will serve as springboards for an
informative exploration of the benefits, challenges,
and successes of both on-site and distance learning
opportunities. New as well as experienced garden
educators will be inspired and take home new and
creative lesson ideas.

Saturday, July 24 - Pick one E and one F session - 9:15 - 10:15 a.m.
E41 Energizing and Environmentally Engaging:
Enriching Education Through Schoolyard Gar-dens
Kurt Van Dexter, Children’s Garden Network, North
Kingstown, RI
Discover opportunities for student learning through
the making of gardens. Art, design, math, science,
languages arts, and other academic subjects can be
incorporated into the planning, design, construction
and periodic maintenance of schoolyard gardens.
Selected schoolyard garden projects will be showcased,
examples will be shared, handouts will be provided,
and networking among participants will be encouraged.
E42 Grow Soil, Not Plants
C. Darren Butler, LA County Master Gardener,
Consulting Horticulturist/Arborist, Tarzana, CA
Humans tend to ignore soil or see it as a sterile,
uninteresting mass that they walk or build on. Nothing
could be further from the truth. You will leave this
session amazed by soil and the millions of insects,
microbes, and other tiny organisms that inhabit it
and make plant life—and human life—possible. Our
discussion will include a practical, scientific, and
philosophical introduction to soil as the foundation of
all successful gardening. You will be introduced to basic
soil ecology, the soil food web, and where to get your
soil lab-tested.
E43 New View: A Museum and Garden Partnership
for High School Students
Susan Gallo, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens,
Jacksonville, FL
Barry Wilson, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts,
Jacksonville, FL
New View is a special partnership between the Cummer
Museum of Art & Gardens and the Douglas Anderson
School of the Arts (DASOTA) in Jacksonville, Florida,
where students are encouraged to create interpretations
of a work of art in the Cummer collection using a
variety of media. In the 2009 New View program,
ninth-grade students studied garden design at the
Cummer, then designed and planted a xeriscaped
garden at DASOTA using native plants. Attendees will
learn about New View’s activities, how they meet high
school academic standards in science and art, and get
recommendations for how this unique partnership could
be replicated in other communities.
E44 Recycling “Useless” Household Throwaways
Into “New” Garden Tools
Yvonne Savio, University of California Cooperative
Extension, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA
Kids become much more involved with, concerned
about, and protective of their environment when
they have the opportunity to get actively involved in
recycling. This session will explore the creative recycling
of everyday throwaway items into useful tools and
materials for the garden. Join us to find out how your
egg cartons, milk jugs, berry containers, soda bottles,
and toilet paper rolls can have a second life in the
garden.
E45 STRAW: Students and Teachers Restoring
A Watershed
Laurette Rogers, The Bay Institute, Novato, CA
STRAW is a community-based grassroots habitat
restoration program that originated in 1992 as a
project by fourth-graders to conserve the California
freshwater shrimp, an endangered species. The
project now spans many schools and creeks in the San
Francisco North Bay, galvinizing the local community
and leading to significant educational innovations. In
this session, you will gain insight into the objectives
of and qualities of place-based and project-based
learning, as well as the rewards of partners working
together on common goals.

Saturday, July 24 - Pick one E and one F session - 9:15 - 10:15 a.m.
E46 Terrapeutics™: Exploring the Relationship
Between Children, Nature, and Education
Jean Lawler and Mark Lawler, Flying Ribbit, Byfield, MA
The Terrapeutics™ concept proposes model of teaching
is based on the premise that children (K–
12) are more
likely to be successful in the classroom when they spend
time engaged in a combination of agricultural activities,
nature exploration, and mind-body work (such as yoga,
tai chi, or guided imagery). This thought-provoking
session will explore supporting research on the topic,
share examples of the concepts in action, brainstorm
ways to integrate the activities into your programs, and
discuss how to nurture administrative support.
E47 Victory Gardens: Historical and Contemporary
Perspectives
Linda Foster and Julie Foster, Taconi Elementary, Ocean
Springs, Mississippi
America’s involvement in World War II caused citizens
to rethink the use and availability of resources. Find
out how a school in Mississippi is teaching current
sustainability practices through the historical example
of World War II Victory Gardens. Using primary sources
including visits by veterans, correspondence, ration
cards, Victory Garden posters, and other historical
documents, students learn about gardening techniques
such as soil preparation, composting, and planting to
create their own modern “Victory!” garden.
E48 Virtual Gardening and Nutrition Education at
KidsCom.com
Norman Lownds, 4-H Children’s Garden,
East Lansing, MI
Learn about new developments in garden and nutrition
education as the virtual world meets the living garden.
Learn the basics of virtual gardening in the Idea
Seeker Universe at KidsCom.com, a website geared
towards K-6th graders. See how virtual and real garden
activities are a springboard for learning and discover
new way to engage and excite kids with gardening.
E49 Water in the World: Linking Rainwater
Harvesting with Academic Standards
Mark Hay , Jodi Levine, Earthroots Field School,
Trabuco Canyon, CA
Water conservation is at the forefront of global and
local water policies. This session will focus on the
successful use of the Water in the World curriculum
to harvest rooftop runoff for use in the garden at
elementary school in California. Find out how, with this
integrated curriculum, children can design, implement,
and maintain rainwater-harvesting systems on their own
school campuses. Earthroots Field School directors and
student participants will provide demonstrations and
practical insights into integrating academic standards
with real-life projects.
Saturday, July 24 - Pick one E and one F session - 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
F51 Lost Parent in the Woods
Jenny Rigby, The Acorn Group, Tustin, CA
Cindy Tyler, Terra Design Studios, Pittsburgh, PA
Children don’t come to the garden alone, and it is
well documented that they gain a more enduring and
meaningful experience if mom and dad interact with
them. Yet parents often arrive at a garden without any
awareness of what they are supposed to “do” there
with their children. We’ll discuss what to consider when
planning or improving your garden, helping parents
take their experience beyond the garden gate to
thoughtful discussions at the dinner table.
F52 Garden Storytelling: A Tool for Cultivating
Hearts and Minds
Rita Howard, Wellness Gardens, Fair Oaks, CA
Gardens are home to beauty, wonder and science—
perfect ingredients for good stories. Hear a number of
enthralling and exciting garden stories that are kid-tested.
In this session participants will collectively cull
choice nuggets for garden stories. Then learn from a
master storyteller how to weave these garden elements
into compelling stories. Explore how garden storytelling
can support academic and garden curriculum.

Saturday, July 24 - Pick one E and one F session - 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. [continued]
F53 Grungy to Glorious Games in the Garden
Doris Stahl, Penn State Extension & Outreach,
Philadelphia, PA
Heather Zimmerman, Penn State Extension & Outreach,
Philadelphia, PA
Bring new vitality through play to your gardening
program by engaging children in fun, interactive
games that help them discover the many layers of life
in the garden environment. Join us in adaptations of
traditional games such as Bingo, Treasure Hunt, and
Jeopardy, as well as activities such as geocaching,
creative dramatics, and human sculpture that can be
used to help children of all ages explore the garden
and facilitate learning in any setting.
F54 High Schools and Gardens: A Win-Win
Partnership in Curriculum Design
Lorrae Fuentes, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden,
Claremont, CA
Hear about an unusual partnership between educators
and students to design a plant biology curriculum that
satisfies both the academic requirements of students
and the research needs of a botanic garden. Using
a case-study format, we will discuss basic guidelines
for successful partnering with students and educators
in a curriculum development project. You will also
participate in sample classroom lessons and field
activities, design evaluation rubrics, and explore
potential applications of the partnership model in your
own community.
F55 Starting a Children’s Garden on a Low Budget
Leah Boas, Boys & Girls Club, Columbus, IN
Linda Nay, Foundation for Youth, Columbus, IN
There’s no need to wait for a big grant to begin your
own children’s garden. In this workshop, you will learn
how to obtain free and inexpensive tools, materials,
and other resources required to begin and sustain a
children’s garden. Activities will include making small
pots from newspapers, creating a worm farm, and
propagating plants. Recommended resources and take-home
source lists will be provided.
F56 Sustaining the Garden... And Teaching Too
Ellen Robinson, REAL School Gardens, Fort Worth,
Texas
Find out how you can explore a broad range of
academic while facilitating student maintenance of the
school garden. This workshop will help teachers see
how time spent weeding, for example, can be turned
into an important lessons on plant adaptations, erosion
and multiplication. We’ll walk you through activities
that prove it’s possible to weed, water, and teach at the
same time!
F57 Take A Walk On the Wildside
Joyce Mendenhall and Gail Pianalto, Jr. Master
Gardeners Washington County, Fayetteville, AR
If you really want to teach children, you yourself must
first become childlike. We will show you how to teach
children to listen to the heartbeat of a tree, find their
age in a tree cookie, tickle a bumblebee, and grow
mushrooms on a log. Wild places have the power to
inspire secrets, wonder and imagination. Hear what
the Master Gardeners of Washington County, Arkansas
have accomplished in a year’s time with a new Junior
Master Gardener program and their “Wildside” garden.
F58 Telling Our Story: Reflecting, Writing, and
Sharing the Power of Garden-Based Learning
Angela McGregor, Cornell Garden-Based Learning,
Ithaca, NY
Explore reflection as a tool for teaching, learning, and
communicating the value of your work. You will engage
in reflection activities that lead to the development
of a powerful story—one that you can share for the
purposes of securing funding, rallying community
support, and making connections with a larger
audience. Take home copies of inspiring reflective
writing and other resources to help you effectively tell
your garden-based learning story.

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