Post on 31-Mar-2016
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S T U D E N T S P O T L I G H T : F U T U R E L A N D S C A P E A R C H I T E C T S
Autumn means not only “back to school” but also “back to the garden” for our students! Because of your
generous support, thousands of students returned to their outdoor classrooms this fall ready and able to
learn from nature. Read on to see how our school partners kicked off the year with trowels in hand...
T H E B O U N T Y O F T H E S E A S O N
We accepted 7 new schools into
partnership this year, growing our reach to
45,000 students and 2,700 educators at 81
elementary school partners.
We are proud to partner with United Way
of Metropolitan Dallas to bring our program
to 5 new Dallas ISD schools.
We were honored to be named one of Bank
of America’s Neighborhood Builders. This
prestigious
award
provides
$200,000
to help us
grow!
G A R D E N S P O T L I G H T : B A R B A R A B U S H E . S .
The outdoor learning program at Barbara Bush Elementary is a
model of sustainability. With outdoor compost piles AND worm
bins in every indoor classroom, the school is sustaining their soil
while captivating students with lessons about the biological and
chemical processes at work among their food scraps. One of the
school’s composting advocates is a parent volunteer, pointing to
their belief that community
participation is as vital for
garden sustainability as
healthy soil. Whether by
volunteering in the
outdoor classroom or
cultivating a plot in the full-
scale community garden
recently established on
campus, the school
community is actively
engaged in tending to land
as well as young minds.
This fall we launched “Design and Dine” events, a new version of our community garden design workshops. To
prepare for the event, students take part in a garden design
competition, with the winners chosen by their peers and invited to
present their designs during the community workshop. The
students have exhibited great creativity and skill, and one school
proudly displayed a gallery of designs as the work of “future
landscape architects.” These contests have jump-started the
learning process around the outdoor classroom as students
research plant types, learn new vocabulary, develop skills for
drawing and measuring to scale, and practice public speaking (left).
Seeing the students’ imaginative ideas has helped the adult
designers stay grounded and see the project through a child’s eyes.
LEARNER’S ALMANAC
FALL 2011 A handy reference for how your gift has grown this season
C O M M U N I T Y P A R T N E R S P O T L I G H T : H A R V E S T I N G & F E A S T I N G T O G E T H E R A T G R A C E
On a Monday in late September, REAL School Gardens conducted a full-day, on-site training for the staff of Ronald
McNair Elementary, which installed a new outdoor classroom in Spring 2011. By Friday of the same week, we heard
this from the McNair garden coordinator:
E D U C A T O R S P O T L I G H T : M C N A I R F A C U L T Y E M B R A C E O U T D O O R I N S T R U C T I O N
Educators at McNair dust off their own descriptive writing skills
by describing and identifying rocks in the outdoor classroom.
“The staff development has energized the campus. The outdoor classroom is really getting a workout. Today
there were 3 classes out there doing 3 different activities at the same time! More teachers are using the
outdoors than in the past. One of the [teachers] who took her class outside...it is out of her comfort zone to
take her kids outside but she has anyway and plans to plant something next week.”
REAL School Gardens ● 503 Bryan Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76104 ● 817-348-8102 ● www.realschoolgardens.org ● www.facebook.com/REALSchoolGardens
In August, four of our Fort Worth schools planted lettuce, turnips, and green beans with a special purpose: to
become the centerpieces of a gourmet meal at one of the DFW area’s top restaurants, GRACE. The students at these
schools have been learning about the journey from seed to plate, taking on not only the task of cultivating the
vegetables but also grilling GRACE’s co-owners and Executive Chef about the restaurant business during visits to
each of the schools. Several students and teachers from each school will have a chance to taste the fruits of their
labor at a special dinner hosted by GRACE and followed by a ticketed dinner to benefit REAL School Gardens.
Students have been busy preparing and tending to their vegetable beds (above) and
contemplating careers as future chefs (right) during visits from GRACE’s co-owners,
Adam and Caroline Jones, and Executive Chef, Blaine Staniford.
One of the goals of our training is to support educators
who may not feel a natural inclination to use the
outdoor classroom. We strive to demonstrate that the
knowledge and skills required to teach outdoors are
within everyone’s reach. Our on-site trainings provide
the first opportunity for educators to experience
learning in their own outdoor classroom in the same
way their students will, and we use outdoor lessons
across the curriculum to engage teachers in mind and
body. We applaud the staff at McNair for their
enthusiasm and quick application of our training, and
we look forward to watching their confidence and
competence in teaching outdoors grow this year!
It’s not too late to make your reservation for our
Schoolyard Harvest Dinner!
Friday, November 11
6:30 cocktails | 7:00 dinner
Tickets are $150, including
a $60 donation to
REAL School Gardens.
Reservations can be made by
contacting GRACE at
817.877.3388