Growing Together: Open Forum

Hello!

Here we are at the beginning of a new school year and I'm wondering if any projects out there have figured out evaluation/how to evaluate their school garden project for the purposes of bragging rights -- to the school community (Parents! Donate your time/money!), to future funders/grants (Funders! Fund us!)--and for determining the success and impact of one's own program with it's own mission and goals.

It seems like there should be some good data that we could start collecting at the start of the school year, as kind of a pre/post impact sort of thing. 

Insights and examples welcome!

~Maya, Rosewood School Garden, Los Angeles, CA

------------------------------
Maya Hagege-Sinderbrand
------------------------------

We measure everything! 

Student usage

Volunteer hours

Pounds of produce

Donated produce

Event participants

Compost pounds 

Student/ Teacher data (pre/post)

Veggie preferences of kids

Impact statements (kids/parents/teachers/admin)

Partnerships

Donations

High school graduate data (kids who gardened with us in elementary school)

We also gather all the grant goodies that are commonly asked for. (demographics,  state test scores - particularly science scores, school information, etc)

It's a lot of upfront work, but will streamline the process for your grant work, sharing progress and documentation of your work. 

Good luck and welcome back to the garden! 

Kim

------------------------------
Kim Aman
Grow Garden Grow
Dallas TX
------------------------------

Hi Maya! Great question and great suggestions from Kim on things to measure. The SGSO Network has a phenomenal resource page related to evaluation and measuring impact. 

If you click into the "Outcome Framework and Sample Surveys" section, there is an extensive list of what you can measure and some of the items include links to surveys that other programs have used that you can draw on for inspiration.

Your community would probably love to hear what the kids are saying about the garden, too! Keep track of any great quotes from participants or if you survey youth directly, you could include an open response prompt. 

------------------------------
Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
------------------------------