Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation will host a virtual garden based learning event on April 27.
The foundation also has support from the School Garden Support Organization (SGSO) Network, according to a news release. The event is set for April 27 from 10 to 11 a.m. PT on growingschoolgardens.org.
The event furthers the Sprouts Healthy Community Foundation’s commitment to advancing children’s nutrition education and is in honor of National Garden Month which was nationally declared by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in 2015, according to the release.
The 45-minute virtual event, titled Growing School Gardens: Seeding a Healthy Future for Our Youth, will be taught through student voices and viewed by an estimated 500 elementary schools. Lessons will capture how school gardens are advancing nutrition and environmental literacy, STEM education, and social-emotional wellness, the release said.
Livestream activities kick off in Hawaii and culminate in Washington, D.C. Topics and locations include:
> Cultural Connections Between Plants, People, Food and Land hosted by Kokua Foundation at Waimea Middle Public Conversion Charter School in Waimea, Hawaii
- What a School Garden Means to Students hosted by Life Lab at Radcliff Elementary in Watsonville, Calif.
- Environmental Design in the School Garden hosted by University of Arizona’s Community & School Garden Program at Manzo Elementary in Tucson, Ariz.
- Unity Through Community hosted by Big Green at Lake Middle School in Denver
- Research Shows School Gardens Benefits hosted by the Department of Nutritional Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin and TX Sprouts Program in Austin, Texas
- Community and Youth Development hosted by Jones Valley Teaching Farm at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Ala.
- We Are Scientists in the Garden hosted by Out Teach at Whittier Elementary in Washington, D.C.
The event comes as many schools reopen for in-person classes. School gardens provide hubs for socially distanced learning, and places to help students reduce stress and anxiety.
“Throughout the pandemic, we all witnessed the enormous pressures put on students and educators, and school gardens helped to alleviate some of those pressures when leveraged appropriately. Additionally, school and community gardens can oftentimes be a source for emergency food assistance for communities experiencing food insecurity,” Sprouts Healthy Communities Executive Director and SGSO Chair Member Lyndsey Waugh said in the release. “Now is the time to recognize how we support our nation’s youth with the resources to rebound and thrive, and we believe wholeheartedly that school gardens can play a tremendous role in this effort.”
