Hi, all! I've been lurking for a little while, but haven't officially introduced myself! I'm a working mom in Chatham County, NC. I'm a social science research leader by day and a whole bunch of other things to boot. I'm deeply into gardening (obviously), ethnobotanical pursuits (natural dyeing, herbalism, plant-based everything really), and therapeutic horticulture. I teach some of these things at the NC Botanical Garden and love bringing the joy of plants and gardening to kiddos.
I started some gardening efforts at my daughter's elementary school in the fall of 2023 and people are really excited after the success of our fundraiser native plant sale we held in late September (and the big beautification project we then did at our school's front sign to get people jazzed)!
We're now planning our "interactive garden" (that the kids will design themselves- more on that in another post) and hopefully will get it started this school year (though it may be pushed to the fall as we wait for administrative approvals).
In the meantime, I'm working with our county extension office 4H coordinators to create a Junior Master Gardener club! We'll start with just our little elementary school and then hopefully recruit more parent volunteers from nearby schools and help them start their own if things get big enough.
Has anyone run one of these clubs for elementary school kids? Any tips from your experience? We're going to have a sign-up form to get interested parents at our spring plant sale (late April) and then hope to fully launch at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, so I've got some time to prepare! Would love to hear what's worked or hasn't for others!
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Deena Class
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