Schoolyard Gardens Conference 2015
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27
Main conference page and registration

  
Keynote Address

Arden Bucklin-Sporer, Executive Director, Education Outside

A school garden offers a world of learning that reaches beyond and endures longer than any growing season for our children. Several studies suggest that school gardens and outdoor classrooms enhance student achievement, especially in elementary education. As a form of environmental education, gardening has been shown to improve performance in math, science, writing, social studies, and overall attitudes toward learning. Our school gardens are living laboratories and libraries with potentials from which we have just begun to draw. 
  
Arden Bucklin-Sporer will offer multiple-value arguments for why gardens are important in every school. Drawing from more than 20 years of developing school-based gardens for every age, Arden will provide research-based support showing that gardens provide a space for students to reconnect to the landscape around them. Arden will detail how all curricula, from math to literature, can be enriched by using the garden as a central resource and not an additional feature. She will share stories of effectives ways in which gardens teach students about agriculture, of how to use them to nourish ourselves, why they are important in understanding our roles in stewardship, and how they let us all gain an appreciation for the natural systems that support life on our planet.
  

Friday Agenda
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PLENARY SESSIONS
     • Conversation on Lessons Learned - Arden Bucklin-Sporer
     • Cooking in the Garden - Jenny Breen
     • Minnesota Food Charter School Leaders Guide - Lisa Gemlo
     • Square Foot and Vertical Growing Methods for Engaging Youth in Gardening- Joan James

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
     • Hands-on Garden Activities that Cultivate Academic Achievement - Sue Knott
     • Foss Science Kits in the Garden - Chris Tower
     • Gardens as aTool for Observing a Changing Climate - Kristen Poppleton
     • Field to Fork in the Classroom - Leah Bott

RESOURCES FOR PROGRAM SUSTAINABILITY
     • Non-Profit and School Partnerships for School Gardens - Marnie Peichel, Uli Koester,
        Randy Gage and Ka Vang
     • Partnering with Master Gardeners - Lynn Olson
     • Fundraising for School Gardens - Melanie Sanco-Gooch
     • Summer-Only Garden Programs - Randy Gage

SCHOOLYARD GARDEN PROGRAMS 101
     • Preview of School Garden 101 - Mary Cichon
     • Analysis of Food Safety Risks in the School Garden - Katherine Simon
     • Succeeding with a new school garden: Case Studies from 30 MN Schools - Jeffers Foundation
     • Framing Your Message and Building Support - Tim Kenny and Leslie Yetka

HORTICULTURE BEST PRACTICES
     • Healthy Plants in Your School Garden - Anne Sawyer
     • Plant Selection: Heirloom, Native or Hybrid Varieties - Dr. Jim Calkins
     • Garden Insect Pests: How Students Can Engage in IPM - Dr. Mary Rogers
     • Those Wascally Weeds: How to Control and Prevent Common Garden Weeds - Lynne Hagen

SPECIAL TOPICS
     • Growing School Garden Success with Farm to School - Zoe Hastings
     • Growing a Garden: From Field to Table - Tim Uhlenkamp and Jeff Eppen
     • Hydroponics In (and Out of) the Classroom - Larry Cipolla
     • Information Session - Minnesota Schoolyard Gardens Coalition

POSTER SESSION