Growing Together: Open Forum

Hello everyone!

First of all, I'm so happy to be a part of this community of like-minded people and am so glad I found you!    :-)

My husband and I have recently formed a new non-profit corporation in which we teach school age children how to grow their own food, we are working on building raised garden beds for each school in our county, as well as construct high tunnels for vegetable production at a few of the schools.   There's more to it than that, but that's just some of the highlights!   

I would like to be able to plan something for the upcoming back to school events which would relate to gardening, planting, seeds, etc., and at the same time, bring awareness of our new organization to the parents and the communities in which the schools serve.    

Do any of you have any great ideas?    I would love to hear about them!   Thanks for your input!

------------------------------
Carole Daniels
Plant the Seed Project, Inc.
West Virginia
------------------------------

Hello Carole, 

I am actually a high school student from the San Francisco Bay Area that is part of a student-led nonprofit called Beyond Terra. We are also beginning to start gardens at our local schools.

Although it is not exactly an event, one thing that has helped us a lot is in planning events is working together with a school's PTA (Parent Teacher Association). Most schools have a PTA and they are quite open to working with the community. They are also often in charge of funding, planning, and bringing awareness to certain school events. You can also look into partnering up with the school gardening clubs or environmental clubs if they exist.

You could even partner with the school lunch program to promote healthy eating and the use of your organic garden/vegetables. Improving school lunches has always been an issue across America and I am sure you would be able to get your community fired up and excited about your project if you look in that direction. Furthermore, based on my experience back in elementary school, the best method to win over the children is not necessarily through an extensive gardening system but through food. When I was in elementary school, the only thing that kept us out in the garden with 90+ degree weather was the food (made from our own garden) that we got rewarded with after the class. My elementary school used to have parent volunteers who were also great chefs to cook for us using our own garden vegetables but you could also partner with local restaurants or chefs. 

In terms of events, assuming I remembered correctly from my history class, I believe West Virginia has a lot of farms so perhaps working with the schools to plan a field trip to a local farm would be of interest. 

Best wishes, 
Wesley

------------------------------
Wesley Chen
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-02-2021 12:53:34 PM
From: Carole Daniels
Subject: Back to School event/Bring Awareness

Hello everyone!

First of all, I'm so happy to be a part of this community of like-minded people and am so glad I found you!    :-)

My husband and I have recently formed a new non-profit corporation in which we teach school age children how to grow their own food, we are working on building raised garden beds for each school in our county, as well as construct high tunnels for vegetable production at a few of the schools.   There's more to it than that, but that's just some of the highlights!   

I would like to be able to plan something for the upcoming back to school events which would relate to gardening, planting, seeds, etc., and at the same time, bring awareness of our new organization to the parents and the communities in which the schools serve.    

Do any of you have any great ideas?    I would love to hear about them!   Thanks for your input!

------------------------------
Carole Daniels
Plant the Seed Project, Inc.
West Virginia
------------------------------

Hello Wesley,
Good for you.  I am outside of the Sacramento area; is there a website I can visit.  Our website is KidsGrowingStrong.org

Sue Bennett
Kids Growing Strong, Director

------------------------------
Susan Bennett
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-03-2021 04:23:45 PM
From: Wesley Chen
Subject: Back to School event/Bring Awareness

Hello Carole, 

I am actually a high school student from the San Francisco Bay Area that is part of a student-led nonprofit called Beyond Terra. We are also beginning to start gardens at our local schools.

Although it is not exactly an event, one thing that has helped us a lot is in planning events is working together with a school's PTA (Parent Teacher Association). Most schools have a PTA and they are quite open to working with the community. They are also often in charge of funding, planning, and bringing awareness to certain school events. You can also look into partnering up with the school gardening clubs or environmental clubs if they exist.

You could even partner with the school lunch program to promote healthy eating and the use of your organic garden/vegetables. Improving school lunches has always been an issue across America and I am sure you would be able to get your community fired up and excited about your project if you look in that direction. Furthermore, based on my experience back in elementary school, the best method to win over the children is not necessarily through an extensive gardening system but through food. When I was in elementary school, the only thing that kept us out in the garden with 90+ degree weather was the food (made from our own garden) that we got rewarded with after the class. My elementary school used to have parent volunteers who were also great chefs to cook for us using our own garden vegetables but you could also partner with local restaurants or chefs. 

In terms of events, assuming I remembered correctly from my history class, I believe West Virginia has a lot of farms so perhaps working with the schools to plan a field trip to a local farm would be of interest. 

Best wishes, 
Wesley

------------------------------
Wesley Chen

Original Message:
Sent: 08-02-2021 12:53:34 PM
From: Carole Daniels
Subject: Back to School event/Bring Awareness

Hello everyone!

First of all, I'm so happy to be a part of this community of like-minded people and am so glad I found you!    :-)

My husband and I have recently formed a new non-profit corporation in which we teach school age children how to grow their own food, we are working on building raised garden beds for each school in our county, as well as construct high tunnels for vegetable production at a few of the schools.   There's more to it than that, but that's just some of the highlights!   

I would like to be able to plan something for the upcoming back to school events which would relate to gardening, planting, seeds, etc., and at the same time, bring awareness of our new organization to the parents and the communities in which the schools serve.    

Do any of you have any great ideas?    I would love to hear about them!   Thanks for your input!

------------------------------
Carole Daniels
Plant the Seed Project, Inc.
West Virginia
------------------------------

Hello Susan, 

The link to our website is https://beyondterra.org/

We are currently working on projects in Fremont and Sacramento. 

Thanks, 
Wesley

------------------------------
Wesley Chen
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-05-2021 05:41:10 PM
From: Susan Bennett
Subject: Back to School event/Bring Awareness

Hello Wesley,
Good for you.  I am outside of the Sacramento area; is there a website I can visit.  Our website is KidsGrowingStrong.org

Sue Bennett
Kids Growing Strong, Director

------------------------------
Susan Bennett

Original Message:
Sent: 08-03-2021 04:23:45 PM
From: Wesley Chen
Subject: Back to School event/Bring Awareness

Hello Carole, 

I am actually a high school student from the San Francisco Bay Area that is part of a student-led nonprofit called Beyond Terra. We are also beginning to start gardens at our local schools.

Although it is not exactly an event, one thing that has helped us a lot is in planning events is working together with a school's PTA (Parent Teacher Association). Most schools have a PTA and they are quite open to working with the community. They are also often in charge of funding, planning, and bringing awareness to certain school events. You can also look into partnering up with the school gardening clubs or environmental clubs if they exist.

You could even partner with the school lunch program to promote healthy eating and the use of your organic garden/vegetables. Improving school lunches has always been an issue across America and I am sure you would be able to get your community fired up and excited about your project if you look in that direction. Furthermore, based on my experience back in elementary school, the best method to win over the children is not necessarily through an extensive gardening system but through food. When I was in elementary school, the only thing that kept us out in the garden with 90+ degree weather was the food (made from our own garden) that we got rewarded with after the class. My elementary school used to have parent volunteers who were also great chefs to cook for us using our own garden vegetables but you could also partner with local restaurants or chefs. 

In terms of events, assuming I remembered correctly from my history class, I believe West Virginia has a lot of farms so perhaps working with the schools to plan a field trip to a local farm would be of interest. 

Best wishes, 
Wesley

------------------------------
Wesley Chen

Original Message:
Sent: 08-02-2021 12:53:34 PM
From: Carole Daniels
Subject: Back to School event/Bring Awareness

Hello everyone!

First of all, I'm so happy to be a part of this community of like-minded people and am so glad I found you!    :-)

My husband and I have recently formed a new non-profit corporation in which we teach school age children how to grow their own food, we are working on building raised garden beds for each school in our county, as well as construct high tunnels for vegetable production at a few of the schools.   There's more to it than that, but that's just some of the highlights!   

I would like to be able to plan something for the upcoming back to school events which would relate to gardening, planting, seeds, etc., and at the same time, bring awareness of our new organization to the parents and the communities in which the schools serve.    

Do any of you have any great ideas?    I would love to hear about them!   Thanks for your input!

------------------------------
Carole Daniels
Plant the Seed Project, Inc.
West Virginia
------------------------------

A couple of ideas for you:

• I love to do a side by side taste test. Can you taste the difference between garden grown and store bought. Carrots and tomatoes work great.
• A seed identification game: Have some seeds mounted on cards and see if they can match it to what it grows into.

 Hope this helps:)

------------------------------
Kristin Maag
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-02-2021 12:53:34 PM
From: Carole Daniels
Subject: Back to School event/Bring Awareness

Hello everyone!

First of all, I'm so happy to be a part of this community of like-minded people and am so glad I found you!    :-)

My husband and I have recently formed a new non-profit corporation in which we teach school age children how to grow their own food, we are working on building raised garden beds for each school in our county, as well as construct high tunnels for vegetable production at a few of the schools.   There's more to it than that, but that's just some of the highlights!   

I would like to be able to plan something for the upcoming back to school events which would relate to gardening, planting, seeds, etc., and at the same time, bring awareness of our new organization to the parents and the communities in which the schools serve.    

Do any of you have any great ideas?    I would love to hear about them!   Thanks for your input!

------------------------------
Carole Daniels
Plant the Seed Project, Inc.
West Virginia
------------------------------

Hi Carole, 
For Back to School Night, it's a good idea to keep it short. There is already a lot happening that night and many parents are feeling rushed. I think a short presentation about who you are and what you do, maybe showing the kinds of things you are building, is enough for that time. Then you can show up at other times in the year-maybe schools have a fundraising carnival in the fall, and you can set up a garden-themed game-to maintain your presence.

------------------------------
Mara Goldwhite
Valley View Academy
Duarte CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-02-2021 12:53:34 PM
From: Carole Daniels
Subject: Back to School event/Bring Awareness

Hello everyone!

First of all, I'm so happy to be a part of this community of like-minded people and am so glad I found you!    :-)

My husband and I have recently formed a new non-profit corporation in which we teach school age children how to grow their own food, we are working on building raised garden beds for each school in our county, as well as construct high tunnels for vegetable production at a few of the schools.   There's more to it than that, but that's just some of the highlights!   

I would like to be able to plan something for the upcoming back to school events which would relate to gardening, planting, seeds, etc., and at the same time, bring awareness of our new organization to the parents and the communities in which the schools serve.    

Do any of you have any great ideas?    I would love to hear about them!   Thanks for your input!

------------------------------
Carole Daniels
Plant the Seed Project, Inc.
West Virginia
------------------------------

Hello Carole,
Not sure when you are planning your event.  I am the Director for a non-profit in CA where we teach children through adults; I would suggest checking out our website KidsGrowingStrong.org for ideas.

We also have informational handouts such as "Get Growing with Herbs" Pollinators, Bees, Lady Bugs, etc., and what we call bookmarks.  The bookmarks are the size of a bookmark, and each one talks about the seed they will plant.  Example: Beets, Broccoli, Sunflowers, etc., of course they are all based on CA growing season and there is a small charge for the items plus shipping.

I am happy to share ideas.

Sue Bennett,
Kids Growing Strong, Director

------------------------------
Susan Bennett
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-02-2021 12:53:34 PM
From: Carole Daniels
Subject: Back to School event/Bring Awareness

Hello everyone!

First of all, I'm so happy to be a part of this community of like-minded people and am so glad I found you!    :-)

My husband and I have recently formed a new non-profit corporation in which we teach school age children how to grow their own food, we are working on building raised garden beds for each school in our county, as well as construct high tunnels for vegetable production at a few of the schools.   There's more to it than that, but that's just some of the highlights!   

I would like to be able to plan something for the upcoming back to school events which would relate to gardening, planting, seeds, etc., and at the same time, bring awareness of our new organization to the parents and the communities in which the schools serve.    

Do any of you have any great ideas?    I would love to hear about them!   Thanks for your input!

------------------------------
Carole Daniels
Plant the Seed Project, Inc.
West Virginia
------------------------------