S T U D E N T S P O T L I G H T : S T U D E N T S L E A R N F R O M G A R D E N T O T A B L E A T G R A C E E V E N T

We are welcoming another growing season and thanks to your generous support, thousands of students are able to sow seeds in REAL school gardens across North Texas. Our school partners are planting new learning gardens, engaging their communities, and cultivating successful students. Read on to see how!

At the Second Annual Schoolyard Harvest Dinner on November 11th, students from four

of our partner schools had the opportunity to taste food from their school gardens

prepared by Executive Chef Blaine Staniford of GRACE restaurant. Chef Staniford used

turnips, beans, and lettuce grown in the schools’ gardens to create a delicious meal for the

ticketed wine dinner benefitting REAL School Gardens. In preparation for the event,

students hosted Chef Staniford in their gardens and had the chance to take part in a

healthy cooking demonstration and taste test. At GRACE, the students had a real garden-

to-table experience, enjoying their harvest in a number of healthy dishes and even touring

the kitchen to learn first-hand how their meal traveled from their outdoor classrooms to

their plates. We are excited to foster connections between garden-based learning and

healthy lifestyles, and we look forward to another great event at GRACE next fall.

LEARNER’S ALMANAC

Winter 2012

Dallas’ John J. Pershing Elementary is now home to a vibrant new learning garden. In November, United Way volunteers, school staff, students, parents, and neighbors came together to build the outdoor classroom, which includes organic vegetable and perennial beds, a rainwater harvesting system, a chicken coop, and a pond. In June, the faculty will spend a full day in the garden with our educators exploring how each grade level can utilize the outdoor classroom to reach learning goals. This event will kick off two years of teacher training on campus, with the goal of ensuring that Pershing’s educators have the skills and resources to engage children in the outdoors for years to come.

T H E B O U N T Y O F T H E S E A S O N

Over 2,000 students took part in

learning garden design contests at

our partner schools this year, and

306 parents, teachers, and neighbors

took inspiration from the winning

student designs at the Design & Dine

events

319 volunteers installed Nathan

Adams Elementary School’s learning

garden on December 10th—our

highest turnout to date

120 teachers participated in training

events this winter to learn how to

use learning gardens to meet state

standards and engage students

The night was replete with chef toques (hats) and great food!

G A R D E N S P O T L I G H T : J O H N J . P E R S H I N G E . S .

A handy reference for how your gift has grown this season

C O M M U N I T Y P A R T N E R S P O T L I G H T : U N I T E D W A Y S U P P O R T S F I V E N E W G A R D E N S

In early February, fourth grade teachers from throughout Fort Worth ISD learned

to map the energy flow—or food web—of a schoolyard as a way of planning to

engage their students in science. Teachers got hands-on with outdoor-based

science instruction by collecting and documenting schoolyard data. They then

used Google Earth to construct food webs based on their findings and analyzed

how energy flows from productive plants to organisms that decompose organic

matter and back again. This training event was offered as part of our contract

with Fort Worth ISD, which for two

years has enabled us to provide

experiential, outdoor-based science

training to teachers from all of the

district’s elementary schools. After

each training we provide, the district

makes RSG lessons available to every

teacher in the district by posting them

to the online curriculum planning tool.

E D U C A T O R S P O T L I G H T : T E A C H E R S L E A R N A L L A B O U T E N E R G Y F L O W I N T H E G A R D E N

REAL School Gardens ● 503 Bryan Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76104 ● 817-348-8102 ● www.realschoolgardens.org ● www.facebook.com/REALSchoolGardens

Looking forward to growing these cool weather crops

*Stay tuned for the special role potatoes play in our Spring

Learner’s Almanac

Beets Carrots

Radishes Onion

Spinach Lettuce

Peas Potatoes*

From installing winding pathways through the gardens to digging ponds, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas volunteers have played a big role in building REAL school gardens.

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas (UWMD) has provided funding and hard-working volunteers for five

new learning gardens in Dallas. We are proud to partner with UWMD to share in our mission of boosting

the math and science education throughout the region with the ultimate goal of preparing 50% more

students for post-secondary learning by 2020. RSG was one of 14 organizations welcomed as new UWMD

service providers this year and was the top recipient of funds in United Way’s math and science focus

area. With their support, we established learning gardens this fall at John J. Pershing Elementary School,

Nathan Adams Elementary School, and Gabe P. Allen Charter School. We look forward to bringing learning

gardens to life at Charles Rice Learning Center and Sidney Lanier Expressive Arts Vanguard in March.

Fort Worth ISD teachers learned to link science concepts to the garden for their fourth-grade students by using Google

Earth to map and study food webs.

“When I went out on campuses, the teachers couldn’t

wait to tell me when they were going outside to begin

the module” - FWISD Science Content Specialist