Plant the Seed
Programs
Budget
$81,000.00
Description
When we partner with a school to provide garden-based education, we: -work with their leadership to plan and build out the garden space that is age and use appropriate, -provide outdoor classroom facilitation that connects to specific grade-level standards within the curriculum, -furnish the related lesson from our toolkit, -host periodic teacher trainings and family engagement activities, -file bi-weekly reports on number of students engaged, new vocabulary introduced, any noteworthy comments or connections from students and pictures of the students engaged in a lesson in action.
Program Areas Served
None
$81,000.00
Description
When we partner with a school to provide garden-based education, we: -work with their leadership to plan and build out the garden space that is age and use appropriate, -provide outdoor classroom facilitation that connects to specific grade-level standards within the curriculum, -furnish the related lesson from our toolkit, -host periodic teacher trainings and family engagement activities, -file bi-weekly reports on number of students engaged, new vocabulary introduced, any noteworthy comments or connections from students and pictures of the students engaged in a lesson in action.
Program Areas Served
None
Budget
$50,000.00
Description
When we partner with a youth-serving community organization to provide garden-based educational workshops, we: -conduct a community needs assessment to work with community members to identify an approach that will work best to meet their needs/desires, -work with their leadership to plan and build out the garden space that is age and use appropriate, -provide food and garden-related workshops based on the community needs assessment, which may include seed starting, building, planting and tending raised garden beds, harvesting and cooking workshops, related arts and crafts, seed saving and food preservation classes, etc. -furnish the related lesson from our toolkit, where relevant, -host periodic family engagement activities, -file mis and summary reports on number of students engaged, new vocabulary introduced, any noteworthy comments or connections from students and pictures of the students engaged in a lesson in action.
Program Areas Served
None
$50,000.00
Description
When we partner with a youth-serving community organization to provide garden-based educational workshops, we: -conduct a community needs assessment to work with community members to identify an approach that will work best to meet their needs/desires, -work with their leadership to plan and build out the garden space that is age and use appropriate, -provide food and garden-related workshops based on the community needs assessment, which may include seed starting, building, planting and tending raised garden beds, harvesting and cooking workshops, related arts and crafts, seed saving and food preservation classes, etc. -furnish the related lesson from our toolkit, where relevant, -host periodic family engagement activities, -file mis and summary reports on number of students engaged, new vocabulary introduced, any noteworthy comments or connections from students and pictures of the students engaged in a lesson in action.
Program Areas Served
None
Budget
$15,000.00
Description
We develop orientation and training to help teachers use the garden independently as an effective teaching tool. This includes meeting the teachers were they are in their experience and willingness to be outside, get cold, hot or dirty and be around insects, as well as addressing some pre-conceived motions that they only kill plants. We host an introduction on the key elements of our space and our lessons, field questions from the teachers, model the lesson in the garden weekly and ask them to oversee aspects of the lesson with graduated autonomy each time. We are always available to consult and advise and welcome the back and forth between the classroom and the garden.
Program Areas Served
None
$15,000.00
Description
We develop orientation and training to help teachers use the garden independently as an effective teaching tool. This includes meeting the teachers were they are in their experience and willingness to be outside, get cold, hot or dirty and be around insects, as well as addressing some pre-conceived motions that they only kill plants. We host an introduction on the key elements of our space and our lessons, field questions from the teachers, model the lesson in the garden weekly and ask them to oversee aspects of the lesson with graduated autonomy each time. We are always available to consult and advise and welcome the back and forth between the classroom and the garden.
Program Areas Served
None
Description
Plant the Seed has developed a 138-page, 27-lesson toolkit that connects seasonal needs and tasks in the garden with standards from the MNPS pre-k Creative Curriculum. The toolkit addresses: -Designing the Pre-K Garden -Program Practices and Routines -Growing a Great Garden: Tips and Methods -Recommended Literature -Local Resources for Starting your School Garden -Seasonal Pacing Guide -Learning Objectives -27 field-tested Lessons -Printables (including word cards for the emerging reader and writer and recipe cards) Our plan is to relate this to each grade level standards, as we grow the programming up from pre-k through 4th grade. We also believe this has the potential to be a national resource and are developing ways in which we can share the knowledge we have gained.
Program Areas Served
None
Plant the Seed has developed a 138-page, 27-lesson toolkit that connects seasonal needs and tasks in the garden with standards from the MNPS pre-k Creative Curriculum. The toolkit addresses: -Designing the Pre-K Garden -Program Practices and Routines -Growing a Great Garden: Tips and Methods -Recommended Literature -Local Resources for Starting your School Garden -Seasonal Pacing Guide -Learning Objectives -27 field-tested Lessons -Printables (including word cards for the emerging reader and writer and recipe cards) Our plan is to relate this to each grade level standards, as we grow the programming up from pre-k through 4th grade. We also believe this has the potential to be a national resource and are developing ways in which we can share the knowledge we have gained.
Program Areas Served
None
Budget
$55,000.00
Description
Plant the Seed is poised to be a model for the nation with its innovative garden-based learning for low-income, public school pre-kindergarten students. This kind of work has not been studied well to determine the exact benefits. While we believe it has the potential to inspire learning and increase academic engagement; build communities; engage young people to be change agents in their lives, their families and their communities; improve health habits related to food choices and activity levels; the list goes on and on, there have not been conclusive studies. PtS has worked with an educational survey team to develop a tool to evaluate our programming, identifying benefits to students, families and communities, as well as creating clear guideposts for our work and our growth as an organization.
Program Areas Served
None
$55,000.00
Description
Plant the Seed is poised to be a model for the nation with its innovative garden-based learning for low-income, public school pre-kindergarten students. This kind of work has not been studied well to determine the exact benefits. While we believe it has the potential to inspire learning and increase academic engagement; build communities; engage young people to be change agents in their lives, their families and their communities; improve health habits related to food choices and activity levels; the list goes on and on, there have not been conclusive studies. PtS has worked with an educational survey team to develop a tool to evaluate our programming, identifying benefits to students, families and communities, as well as creating clear guideposts for our work and our growth as an organization.
Program Areas Served
None
CEO/Executive Director/Board Comments
| Some of our challenges are also our opportunities. Plant the Seed has seen rapid growth, and this small organization has quickly become a recognized expert in garden-based education for young people, due to our innovative programming and holistic approach to experiential edible education. We have many opportunities for growth, but are most in need of: 1) a strategic direction plan to help us determine the best options for our growth that are true to our mission and will help us serve our young people most effectively and 2) diversified funding. Strategic Direction Plan: We have begun the strategic planning process, but have more work to do to develop a guide that will honor who we are and what we uniquely bring to the communities we serve, while directing us in how best to grow this work. We are also looking for clear indicators of success. The impact of our work stands to be behavioral change manifested over a long arc of time; that is difficult and costly to measure. What are the short-term indicators of success? How do we capture and measure this? How do we share this with funders? Which leads me to our second area of challenge and opportunity: Diversified Funding. We are very grateful for the bold and innovative investment Metro Nashville Public Schools made in contracting with Plant the Seed. It was unprecedented and has grown an unprecedented and promising partnership. MNPS has funded PTS with local and federal monies. It is time for us to seek additional funding that will make the MNPS investment less volatile. We are strongly supported by various level of MNPS administration and the board, but I always hold my breath at budget time each year. More directly, I recognize the importance of varied revenue streams for sustainability, and I believe we are uniquely poised for investment from other organizations: local and national foundations, corporations and individual donors. We have invested so much in building quality programming; it is now time we invest in growing and sustaining this organization. I believe there are investors out there who would like to build on our early successes. |
