A Note to Lead Teachers:
Welcome to this year’s food growing challenge! This challenge is meant to create a bridge between garden and the classroom in secondary schools. It gives students the opportunity to explore math and science with hands-on activities that are relevant to their lives at school. As the lead teacher on the project, you will have access to advice from Rosie (Potato Challenge Coordinator) and Elizabeth (OrganicLea Schools Coordinator). But we suggest that you try to rope in support from other teachers in your school as well. For example, there are lesson plans that can be used in Science or Math modules. If your colleagues need support please direct them to Elizabeth or Rosie (we hope this will take a bit of pressure off of you).
There are several different options on how to go about completing the challenge. You can choose a small group of students or you can choose a class that can take the challenge on. For our Hawkwood trip in June, we can unfortunately only take 10 students from each school. Just something to keep in mind as students get involved.
NEXT STEPS:
We will be throwing Plant Out Potato Parties for every school that participates that includes free compost, growing media as well as a budget for workshops, activities and refreshments for the whole school. We are happy to work with each individual school to decide what you would like your Plant Out Potato Party to look like. It could include potato games, a whole-school assembly, a lunch-time workshop, whatever you think will engage students and the school the most. These parties are also a great opportunity to get parents and the community involved in a borough-wide event.
In order to keep the school interested and involved throughout the growing season we will be hosting several mini-competitions including April’s Earth Up Photo Contest as well as May’s Creative Recipe Contest. More details about the competition will be on our website in the following weeks.
We’d also like to invite you to Get Growing in Schools Networking Event which will give you a chance to meet teachers, representatives from the council, as well as growers to learn more about growing in schools. We will have information about funding opportunities, support systems, growing tips and how to link the garden to the curriculum.
