I have been looking at a lot of garden books for inspiration. At first, I was thinking a couple of boxes to get a little interest. But then I looked at "From Asphalt to Ecosystems" and had a totally different vision of what could happen. I looked again at our playgound. It is very similar to what my playyard looked like when I was growing up. A sea of asphalt with little islands of playground equipment.
Living in the NW of Seattle also gave me a different perspective of it. All of that concrete sheds so much water. There are several spots that get flooded pretty easily every time it rains. What we really need is an ecosystem with native plants (maybe even an underground cistern for all that water to be used for watering plants).
Doing the entire school yard would be a major project. But there could be a lot of community support for converting concrete to habitat. The city has neighborhood grants that could support the effort.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Seattle Public School Gardens in 2015
Here is a list of current Seattle school gardens. This is a basic list compiled from web searches since the SPS guide says (insert list), here is one!
Edible schoolyad is a general resource that lists all kinds of good stuff.
http://edibleschoolyard.org/
Orca: Most information available. https://orcagarden.wordpress.com/
North Seattle:
Greenwood Elementary:
Greenwood School Garden currently features six raised beds (one for each class level) and is working on integrating growing vegetables into the school curriculum as well as using the garden to teach children about healthy eating. Established 2013
West Woodland Elementary:
Food Rules Curriculum Inspired by Michael Pollan and Maira Kalman, written in 2013 by Carrie Pluger. https://plugerfoodrules.wordpress.com/
Jane Addams K-8:
The garden gates are always open so that it is accessible to any one at anytime. We see it as an important resource to help families feel welcome at the school. Our goal is for the garden to be an important part of the JA K-8, E-STEM (Environmental Science Technology Engineering and Math) curriculum at all grade levels. Currently the garden is used primarily for grades 2-5
View Ridge Elementary:
The goals for our Outdoor Classroom Garden are to grow more edible plants and to integrate the garden fully into our school curriculum. Right now we have a lovely space with 6 edible containers, an ornamental area and enough seating to comfortably host an entire class.
Queen Anne Elementary (2012): http://qaegarden.weebly.com/blog.html
Our goal is to create an organic garden where students can observe learn & create. With funding we can integrate the garden into every classroom subject from history to science while educating urban kids & families about the impact that growing & eating organic produce has on their health & the health of the planet. Our students will plant harvest cook & eat from a garden that will have compost & worm bins & enough tools so kids can work side by side and know it belongs to each of them.
Daniel Bagley Elementary: http://bagleygarden.edublogs.org/about/
There is some kind of garden here.
Sand Point Elementary (2012):
The garden program will instruct on best practices in urban agriculture and foster thinking on cultural and socio-economic issues of global and local food cultivation. We hope that by enabling them to share the bounty of their harvest with the community a lifelong commitment to sustainable food growing and healthful eating will hold.
Cascadia Elementary: http://snappdragons.wordpress.com
South Seattle:
Washington Middle School:
Leschi Elementary https://leschipeacegarden.wordpress.com/
Our goal is to enhance science and language arts education in the classroom by connecting them to lessons in Leschi’s edible garden. Students, through employing all their senses, will learn and connect meaningful experiences to what they must achieve in academics by the end of the school year. Life Lab’s textbook The Growing Classroom and other tools offered via Lifelab will be used to connect lessons in the garden to the Common Core Math and Language Arts Standards. The garden, as an outdoor classroom, will provide students with a different approach to learning about math and language arts, while also empowering students with valuable life skills. Finally, Leschi is an urban school and many of our students don’t have personal access to gardens. The Leschi garden is an opportunity to teach children the joys of cultivating outdoor plants as well as where and how food is actually produced.
Bailey Gatzert Elementary:
The Danny Woo Children's Garden Program, run by InterIm CDA, provides Bailey Gatzert Elementary School students classes both at the school and field trips to our unique garden, the Danny Woo Community Garden. The Danny Woo Community Garden is a place where low-income gardeners raise vegetables that reflect their cultural foods of choice, and children come to learn about these cultural and environmental connections. Our curriculum follows a seed- to- plate model; where youth and young children learn how to grow, prepare, cook, and eat healthy foods.
Lafayette Elementary:
Lafayette is an urban school. Every bit of green provides relief to the asphalt and an opportunity to experience gardening opportunities that are otherwise unavailable to many of these kids.
This is an ideal time to revitalize the garden because the school has finally been able to add locking fences to the area which was previously vulnerable to vandalism. The school is on a main street and the garden area has long been unsecured, making it difficult to invest our already stretched time and resources into an unlocked area.
Seattle Pubic Schools administers all garden projects thought their office of Self-help. https://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=16181
Edible schoolyad is a general resource that lists all kinds of good stuff.
http://edibleschoolyard.org/
Orca: Most information available. https://orcagarden.wordpress.com/
North Seattle:
Greenwood Elementary:
Greenwood School Garden currently features six raised beds (one for each class level) and is working on integrating growing vegetables into the school curriculum as well as using the garden to teach children about healthy eating. Established 2013
West Woodland Elementary:
Food Rules Curriculum Inspired by Michael Pollan and Maira Kalman, written in 2013 by Carrie Pluger. https://plugerfoodrules.wordpress.com/
Jane Addams K-8:
The garden gates are always open so that it is accessible to any one at anytime. We see it as an important resource to help families feel welcome at the school. Our goal is for the garden to be an important part of the JA K-8, E-STEM (Environmental Science Technology Engineering and Math) curriculum at all grade levels. Currently the garden is used primarily for grades 2-5
View Ridge Elementary:
The goals for our Outdoor Classroom Garden are to grow more edible plants and to integrate the garden fully into our school curriculum. Right now we have a lovely space with 6 edible containers, an ornamental area and enough seating to comfortably host an entire class.
Queen Anne Elementary (2012): http://qaegarden.weebly.com/blog.html
Our goal is to create an organic garden where students can observe learn & create. With funding we can integrate the garden into every classroom subject from history to science while educating urban kids & families about the impact that growing & eating organic produce has on their health & the health of the planet. Our students will plant harvest cook & eat from a garden that will have compost & worm bins & enough tools so kids can work side by side and know it belongs to each of them.
Daniel Bagley Elementary: http://bagleygarden.edublogs.org/about/
There is some kind of garden here.
Sand Point Elementary (2012):
The garden program will instruct on best practices in urban agriculture and foster thinking on cultural and socio-economic issues of global and local food cultivation. We hope that by enabling them to share the bounty of their harvest with the community a lifelong commitment to sustainable food growing and healthful eating will hold.
Cascadia Elementary: http://snappdragons.wordpress.com
South Seattle:
Washington Middle School:
Leschi Elementary https://leschipeacegarden.wordpress.com/
Our goal is to enhance science and language arts education in the classroom by connecting them to lessons in Leschi’s edible garden. Students, through employing all their senses, will learn and connect meaningful experiences to what they must achieve in academics by the end of the school year. Life Lab’s textbook The Growing Classroom and other tools offered via Lifelab will be used to connect lessons in the garden to the Common Core Math and Language Arts Standards. The garden, as an outdoor classroom, will provide students with a different approach to learning about math and language arts, while also empowering students with valuable life skills. Finally, Leschi is an urban school and many of our students don’t have personal access to gardens. The Leschi garden is an opportunity to teach children the joys of cultivating outdoor plants as well as where and how food is actually produced.
Bailey Gatzert Elementary:
The Danny Woo Children's Garden Program, run by InterIm CDA, provides Bailey Gatzert Elementary School students classes both at the school and field trips to our unique garden, the Danny Woo Community Garden. The Danny Woo Community Garden is a place where low-income gardeners raise vegetables that reflect their cultural foods of choice, and children come to learn about these cultural and environmental connections. Our curriculum follows a seed- to- plate model; where youth and young children learn how to grow, prepare, cook, and eat healthy foods.
Lafayette Elementary:
Lafayette is an urban school. Every bit of green provides relief to the asphalt and an opportunity to experience gardening opportunities that are otherwise unavailable to many of these kids.
This is an ideal time to revitalize the garden because the school has finally been able to add locking fences to the area which was previously vulnerable to vandalism. The school is on a main street and the garden area has long been unsecured, making it difficult to invest our already stretched time and resources into an unlocked area.
Seattle Pubic Schools administers all garden projects thought their office of Self-help. https://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=16181
Welcome to my exploration of Seattle school gardens!
I am exploring the possibility of creating a learning garden at our school. Currently there is a large asphalt play yard with typical playground equipment at our school. It is very traditional. But it could be beautiful. It turns out there are a lot of other school gardens in Seattle. But there is not a great central resource for it. And there does not seem to be documentation for creating one. The district sent me their general info packet. One page says (Add list of school gardens).
The journey begins with a step. I have started to contact and connect with interested parties at the school. A teacher that I would really like to work with on this project. Another parent that may be interested. It will grow, slowly, like a little fragile seedling adding sunshine (community) and water (ideas).
The key to success is to build it for the children, teachers, and community. Let's get started.
The journey begins with a step. I have started to contact and connect with interested parties at the school. A teacher that I would really like to work with on this project. Another parent that may be interested. It will grow, slowly, like a little fragile seedling adding sunshine (community) and water (ideas).
The key to success is to build it for the children, teachers, and community. Let's get started.
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