Hello friends and fans of School Garden Programs!
🎉 Great news: Growing Gardens in partnership with Oregon State University is offering the next School Garden Coordinator Certificate Training and registration is now open!
This comprehensive course runs for eight weeks, starting January 12th-March 8th, 2026 and covers everything you need to start or advance the school garden of your dreams. 🌱 Each week there is video, audio and print materials that you can watch at any time, followed by an optional live discussion on Zoom each Thursday evening (4-5 PM PST). The course includes demo lessons, an action plan template to turn dreams to reality and tons of resources so you can hit the ground running. You will be encouraged to share your activities with other participants from around the country during the discussion sessions and via online discussion forums.
✅ Register now: School Garden Coordinator Certificate Training
Each week the course focuses on different themes of creating, using and sustaining school gardens: Introduction & Action Planning: Connect to a larger community of like-minded school garden enthusiasts, learn about the national movement and tap into the deeper mission of why you want to develop a school garden program. Presentations include the research-based Benefits of Farm to School and School Gardens, School Gardens in Oregon and an introduction to creating your own School Garden Action Plan. Community Engagement: Understand the importance of broad community engagement and gain strategies to increase involvement of diverse stakeholders in school gardens. Three school garden coordinators share their real life successes and challenges. Participants learn some tips on volunteer management and how to run a successful school garden volunteer work party. Garden Design & Maintenance: Gain the tools to create a well thought out garden design, maintenance plan and planting plan that considers key elements of educational gardens. We take you on virtual tours of three school gardens to see how the infrastructure influences the functions of the garden. We discuss school garden maintenance and how to plant a garden that works with the school calendar. Teaching & Curriculum: Be inspired to use the garden for teaching multiple subjects, as well as gain confidence in teaching a group of youth in the garden. Video demonstrations highlight outdoor classroom management strategies and adapting gardening techniques for youth. Then, you will be guided through selecting one of the existing curricula to use at your school. Harvesting & Tasting: Understand how produce can be used in cafeterias and how to engage students in food-based activities. Video demonstrations show how to harvest and cook with students. The Farm to School Program Analyst from Oregon Department of Education reviews food safety guidance and Nutrition Services staff share how best to integrate garden produce into the cafeteria. Funding & Making Programs Last: Gain insights into the elements of long-term program sustainability and understand strategies to secure the financial resources to achieve long-lasting school garden programs.
The Growing Gardens team of Educators and School Garden Coordinators pooled their expertise and brought in guest speakers from Oregon State University, Oregon Department of Education, Portland Public Schools, Grow Portland, and FoodCorps to create a dynamic interactive course. The course is hosted by Oregon State University's department of Professional and Community Education (PACE) and credit opportunities are available.
Registration Link: https://workspace.oregonstate.edu/course/school-garden-coordinator-certificate-training
The total cost of the course is $300. There are a total of 40 participant spots in the course, and it's filling up fast!
I hope you are able to join us!
Cheers, Jenna | 
