Fall Garden Educator Network

Our local Garden Educator Network will be convening in September to learn, share resources and ideas, and kick off another year of garden based education. These events are open to anyone who works, supports, or wants to help youth connect to food and nature through garden and farm based education inside and outside of the classroom.

Our September event will include a training provided by OSU Extension Nutrition Educators, followed by a networking opportunity outside in our Kansas Avenue Learning Garden.

4:30 – 5:30 – Building Capacity with a School Garden Committee

Setting the stage for a successful school garden committee requires school administrative support, communication and the ability to conduct an effective meeting. The purpose of this workshop is for attendees to learn how to create a meeting agenda, facilitate a meeting and participate in a storyboard visioning activity focusing on defining future committee goals. Participants will be involved in a mock interactive school garden committee meeting that will highlight typical behaviors from committee members. Facilitators will demonstrate strategies to overcome meeting barriers. This workshop will also describe the critical community building steps completed before the first meeting as outlined in Conducting Effective Meetings (The Cispus Institute). At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to describe steps leading to the first school garden committee meeting, create a meeting agenda, facilitate a school garden committee meeting using techniques discussed and practiced in this session, and generate a visioning activity. A cohesive garden committee with a shared vision and mission built from knowledge and skills obtained during this workshop will create sustainability within your school community.

This workshop is appropriate wherever you are on the spectrum of having a garden committee!

5:30 – 6:30 – Networking in the Garden

We’ll adjourn to the garden with snacks and beverages to share ideas to utilize a fall school garden – or garden based activities- in and out of the classroom.