Principals Supporting School Gardens & Webinar Nominations

[Daniel Barrera Ortega]

Hi everyone!

In April, the SGSO Network will be hosting a webinar focused on Principals Advancing School Gardens. We feel this is an important topic due to Principal and administrative support being reported as a significant predictor of school garden program success, as identified in this study published by the EdEN Lab at the University of Texas at Austin.

We are seeking to learn from folks who work closely with a Principal (as an outside organization or as a teacher within a school) or from Principals themselves about the following questions:

• What are ways within your role as a school Principal where you encourage school garden programming to happen at your school? 
• How do you/your school Principal work to foster school garden culture within your school?
• Are there any specific relationships your Principal or you as a Principal have been able to develop with district entities or partner support organizations?

Please make sure to use the "Reply All" button so everyone can read your contributions!

In addition, if you have a Principal who is championing school gardens, we'd love for you to nominate them (or self-nominate if you are a Principal) to be a co-presenter in this webinar! Feel free to nominate with your response to this thread or reach out directly to me at dan...@sgsonetwork.org.

Looking forward to learning from you all,

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Daniel Barrera Ortega Program Coordinator School Garden Support Organization (SGSO) Network (He/Him) www.sgsonetwork.org

[Erin Maidlow]

Oohh this is so good. We have one school with an extremely active principal and she has moved from one school to another, both with gardens. She’s part of a larger district with 8 elementary schools and two middle schools that all have gardens, and out of all of them, hers have always been the most successful because she is involved and dedicated to the garden. 

Here are some of the ways she’s involved:

1. She records her morning messages from the school gardens, showing families and students what’s growing, and asks families to volunteer 

2. She uses the school garden for SEL activities. For instance when a kiddo is struggling, she will take them to the garden and let them water it, even in the rain. She will allow them to plant seeds if that’s what it takes to change their behaviors. She does whatever it takes because she sees the power of outdoor education and garden therapy and harnesses that with her students with amazing outcomes. 

3. She created plant sales on her own! We had an excess of tomato plants that we donated after we used all we could. She had her students also start seeds in all kinds of recycled containers that they then sold to staff and students. These schools are all Title 1, low-income schools! Last year they made $800 just selling plants as a “name your price” to the school staff and students. Students brought change from home and purchased seedlings, and staff did the same. It’s amazing, and this is an area that our other low-income schools constantly doubt will be successful, but she knows you have to try to find out. 

4. She encourages students to visit the garden during garden recess and sends out all of our notifications for after school clubs, etc, and shares our social media posts. She also encourages the booster clubs to contribute to the garden when they can. 

Overall, she champions the garden like no other principal we’ve ever worked with and that’s what makes her gardens so successful. 

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[Tristana Pirkl]

Erin, thank you so much for sharing these amazing and incredibly tangible ways one of your principals supports your school garden programs. Great inspiration and ideas for requests and suggestions to make of principals. What a gem! 

Best, 

Tristana

Tristana Pirkl Executive Director

School Garden Support Organization (SGSO) Network

(She/Her) www.sgsonetwork.org

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