POST-CONFERENCE SUMMARY
We were fortunate to have over 370 participants on Friday, the largest single-day attendance for the Schoolyard Garden Conference to date, including teachers/education programs representing over 45 different schools throughout the state of Minnesota. 

The goal for this year's conference was to bring multiple groups together and connect over common ground to promote the schoolyard garden in Minnesota. Our schoolyard garden community looks forward to continuing this momentum when we celebrate May 23-27th, 2016, which Governor Dayton has proclaimed Minnesota Schoolyard Garden Planting Week!

SAVE THE DATE
Schoolyard Gardens Conference 2017
Thursday March 2 & Friday March 3, 2017 

VIEW PRESENTATIONS
Follow the links within the page below to view presentations from the 2016 conference. 

View a slideshow of photos from the 2016 Conference

Keynote Address

Photo courtesy of Excellent Schools Detroit and DetroitMetro Parent.

Betti Wiggins
Executive Director, Office of School Nutrition, for Detroit Public Schools
view presentation

MINNESOTA SCHOOLYARD GARDENS CONFERENCE welcomes Ms. Betti Wiggins, a national leader in nutrition and food service management. She is responsible for school-based meal operations in 143 schools for all USDA child nutrition programs and non-program sales, facilities management, employees and services; training programs for all levels of staff, and managing external business relationships with vendors, school principals and non-profit organizations. In 2011, under her leadership, the Detroit School Garden Collaborative (DSGC) was established which currently supports 78 school-based gardens and a 4.5 acre school farm. Ms. Wiggins is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the 1997 Silver Medalist Certificate of Achievement from the Federal Executive Board: Excellence in Government and was most recently named 2015 Director of Year by the School Nutrition Association of Michigan (SNAM). She also delivered a rousing testimony on the subject of “Meeting the Challenges of Feeding America’s School Children” at the Congressional hearing before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry of the United States Senate.
Watch a video about Betti Wiggins

Also Featuring

Rose McGee
Conference Emcee 

Rose McGee is the creator of the "Sweet Potato Comfort Pie Initiative - A Catalyst for Caring and Building Community." She is owner of Deep Roots Gourmet Desserts, and co-author of the new book, Story Circle Stories. Described as a "social change agent", she uses her skills as a storyteller, educator, facilitator and playwright to convene people in circle to listen and share each other's authentic stories. Rose earned a Master's Degree in Creative Arts in Learning from Lesley University Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has a TEDx Talk on The Power of Pie and is featured in the national PBS documentary, A Few Good Pie Places. In August 2015, she led her own community of Golden Valley, Minnesota in baking 56 Sweet Potato Comfort Pies and personally served them at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina where nine Black people were killed. Her gift and service of pies was featured nationally including USA Today and Huffington Post. Recent awards include: Bush Foundation's BushConn Grant, Golden Valley Community Foundation's Spark Grant, Calvary Lutheran Church of Golden Valley's Community Engagement Fellowship Grant, and the Minnesota Social Impact Center's Change Maker Award. She is currently writing Can't Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like My Mama - The History of Sweet Potato Pie. 
Watch Rose's TEDx Talk: The Power of Pie

Bertrand Weber
Town Hall Interactive Forum Moderator

Mr. Weber is the Director of Culinary and Nutrition Services for the 36,000-student Minneapolis district, where he is overseeing a massive shift in what students in that city encounter in their cafeterias. He is steadily phasing out prepackaged meals assembled in a central kitchen and trucked to school lunchrooms and replacing them with meals made from scratch and featuring fresh fruit, vegetables, and meats and other ingredients that are locally sourced.
Watch an interview with Bertrand Weber 
Excerpt from Minneapolis Leader Turns School Cafeterias Into 'Real Kitchens', by Lesli A. Maxwell, 2014
 

This Conference will utilize Pigeonhole Live, an interactive platform for audience participation. Bring any web-capable device such as a phone, laptop, or tablet. No apps, sign-up or downloads required, but data usage may apply if using cell service. No device? Don't worry...you can still participate!

View Pigeonhole Q&A Session Results:

•   Town Hall Forum with Betti Wiggins
  
•   Principals' Round Table
  
•   The Buzz on Pollinators and Beekeeping