Ohio conference prepares teachers to add gardening to curricula. How to register

Mike Hogan
·4 min read
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Students develop problem-solving skills through school garden projects.
Students develop problem-solving skills through school garden projects.

School and youth gardening is widely accepted as an educational tool that can boost academic achievement and improve quality of life for students involved in garden-based learning activities. While planning and developing a school garden and classroom curriculum can seem to be a daunting task for classroom teachers and other school personnel, there are many resources available to help educators start or sustain a school garden project, including an opportunity to learn from some of Ohio’s most successful school gardeners at the Ohio School Garden Conference.

Research conducted by Texas A&M University found that elementary school students who participated in school gardening activities scored significantly higher on science achievement tests compared to students who did not experience any garden-based learning activities. This research also found that teachers perceived the school garden to be an effective tool to enhance academic performance, physical activity and healthy eating habits. Researchers at Cornell University found that school gardening activities positively affected the amount and variety of vegetables consumed by middle school students.

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Mike Hogan
Mike Hogan

School garden conference scheduled

To help educators, school administrators, parents and other community members develop and support school and community-based youth gardening projects, Ohio State University Extension’s 4-H Youth Development program is sponsoring "Celebrating Us: A Garden Party," the Ninth School Garden Conference. This conference will be held on Friday, Nov. 3, from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on the OSU Campus. The conference will outline strategies that educators and others can employ to develop school gardening projects and incorporate school gardening into their curricula and classroom activities to reinforce content standards and improve student success in science, math, language arts and social studies.

Garden tours highlight conference

A highlight of the School Garden Conference will be three different garden-related tours at OSU’s Waterman Farm.  One tour will feature indoor production of food crops at the new Controlled Environment Greenhouse Complex, a new state of the art research and demonstration facility. The facility currently grows tomatoes and strawberries year-round.

A second tour will feature fall vegetable garden beds where cool season vegetables are being grown using season extension techniques. These techniques can help school garden leaders extend the school garden season to December!

The final tour will stop at the OSU Extension Demonstration kitchen, where garden leaders will learn how to include fun food preparation activities designed to engage students in healthy meal preparation as part of the school garden curriculum.

School gardens provide hands-on learning opportunities in many different subject areas.
School gardens provide hands-on learning opportunities in many different subject areas.

Conference topics

Conference participants will have the opportunity to learn from some of Ohio’s most seasoned and successful educators, practitioners and Master Gardener volunteers who are working with school and youth gardens. Conference workshop topics include the following:

  • Using a School Garden to Support Student Social Emotional Learning

  • Garden Club Programs with Sustainable Practices

  • Growing Garden Leaders Through the School Year

  • Growing a Farm to School Program from the Ground Up

  • Garden to Tray: Incorporating Garden Produce into the Cafeteria

  • Co-teaching in the Garden: Tips and Tricks and Make and Take Fun

  • Little by Little: Developing Elementary School Gardens

  • Nature the Teacher

  • Fairy Gardens: Language Arts in the Garden

  • Growing Opportunities in the Classroom

Master Gardener volunteers will demonstrate “make and take” classroom projects that provide additional classroom hands-on learning opportunities for students. Conference participants can choose to learn about “make and take” projects such as fairy gardens, pressed flower cards and an edible soil model.

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Conference registration

Registration for the School Garden Conference is $65 and includes continental breakfast, lunch and all program materials. Register at go.osu.edu/4hsgc23 before Oct. 27. For more information, contact Sue Hogan at hogan.239@osu.edu.

School gardens bring communities together through shared experiences of planting, harvesting, cooking and more. Learn about the diversity that a garden has to offer including animals and insects in the garden, different methods of cooking nutritious meals from the harvest, educational approaches for students from pre-K to twelve and more at the Ninth School Garden Conference.

Mike Hogan is an Extension educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and associate professor with Ohio State University Extension. hogan.1@osu.edu

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio School Garden Conference returns in November. How to go