SPEC School Garden Updates: Fall 2024

[Sharlene Singh]

Hello Everyone, 

Apologies for any cross postings! 

Here is an update on some of our current programming for the Fall/Winter Season as school is back in session. Please share these resources to anyone who may be interested. 

Programming and Workshops - Bookings Now Open! 

The SPEC School Gardens Program offers a variety of programming including garden lessons (4 lesson minimum), individual workshops (0-65+) on a specialized topic, garden site assessments, climate friendly garden design, and curricular resources. The School Gardens Program is seeking schools within and outside Vancouver, primarily within Richmond, Surrey and Burnaby. If you are an educator with a new or existing school garden and are interested in any of our available programming, please email me. 

Garden Site Assessments

We are once again offering a garden site assessment service for K-12 schools (for the month of September and early October only) seeking to start a school garden and or those that have an existing school garden in need of guidance. Assessments are $150 which includes an in person visit and a detailed written report with resources. This is the ideal timeframe (fall) to receive feedback before the spring season. 

For inquiries, please complete these forms:

New School Garden Site Visit Questionnaire 

Pre-existing School Garden Site Visit Questionnaire 

Volunteer Opportunity

Please share this posting for a School Gardens Program Volunteer. The SPEC School Gardens Program is seeking up to 4 enthusiastic volunteers to assist with various schools to support food/ecoliteracy lessons. Volunteer shifts are flexible and organic gardening knowledge/skills are preferred. The deadline for volunteer applications is January 5, 2025. 

Free Lessons

As the Fall Equinox approaches and the weather begins to shift, explore the beauty of the season with our Fall Scavenger Hunt, available via our Neighbourhood Nature School platform. With over 42 sheets of items to discover, this fun activity encourages both home learners and school students to search their neighbourhoods, school grounds and green spaces for patterns, textures, local wildlife, native plants, sensory weather, fall crops and colours in nature. 

All About Pumpkins  - developed for educators from K to Gr. 4, students delve into the origins of pumpkins, how they grow, the different varieties that are grown here, its life cycle and the role of pollinators. Included in this lesson are book resources and activities - including some pumpkin math! 

How Leaves Work  - designed for educators from K to Gr. 5, students will venture outdoors to observe the autumnal seasonal shifts and to understand the change that trees go through exploring topics such as photosynthesis, and the importance of leaf mulch.

Backyard Birds of BC  - Grades 1 to 7, this resource helps students learn the role birds play in our ecosystems by exploring their habitat, and the impacts of climate change to their migration and food sources. 

Snow Geese & Agriculture - in partnership with the Delta Farmland Wildlife & Trust, this lesson is divided for K to Gr. 3 and Grades 4-7 with a teacher info sheet showcasing the symbiotic relationship with migrating snow geese and farmland habitat in Delta. 

Wonderful World of Spiders - K to Gr. 5 students will be fascinated by spiders life cycles and the important role they play in the predator, prey cycle supporting our urban forests and garden spaces. 

Coming Soon! - There are also 3 new resources in development - Fungi & Mushrooms, Seed Saving & Storage and Winter Gardening. 

Kind regards,

Sharlene Singh (She/Her)

SPEC School Gardens Program Coordinator 

E: shar...@spec.bc.ca 

W: spec.bc.ca/school-gardens

 

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Free Resources on Instagram and Neighbourhood Nature School 

I acknowledge that I am unlearning and relearning on the unceded, ancestral and traditional lands of the sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) nations.

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