Education & Kids

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School Gardening Initiative

Lynn Hyndman
School Garden Coordinator

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THUMBS UP TO SCHOOL GARDENING

"A fantastic teaching tool!" "Every school should have an EarthBox garden." "It was really fun and it doesn't require a ton of work." These comments are among the enthusiastic responses to Evanston's School Gardening Initiative sponsored by Keep Evanston Beautiful, Inc. KEB promotes edible school gardens with the belief that through growing their own food children can learn to make better food choices. Funding from the Illinois EPA provided money for the purchase of EarthBoxes, an exciting technology that pretty much guarantees results, and boxes were placed in the hands of teachers in 12 schools in Evanston. With the support of Slow Food Chicago and the Healthy Schools Campaign, workshops were organized focusing on how to grow vegetables. Gary Anton of Anton's Greenhouses and Garden Center in Evanston helped jump start the growing season by providing seedlings for students to plant - spinach, chard, rapini, kale, arugula, and kohlrabi. Before school ended in June, students had planted, harvested and tasted the first crops of the season.

JOIN OUR EARTH BOX BRIGADE

As school gardens expand throughout Evanston, KEB is focusing now on growing a corps of volunteers to assist teachers and students with their EarthBox gardening. If you're interested in helping children learn about nutrition from the ground up, here's your chance to make a difference by becoming an EarthBox Brigade Volunteer. We welcome parents, high school and college students, as well as retirees. Age is no barrier to making a valuable contribution. No gardening experience or heavy lifting required, just the desire to have a positive effect on a child's life. Call KEB - 847-448-8256, x105 - to join the EarthBox Brigade.

SAGE - SCHOOLS ACTIVELY GARDENING IN EVANSTON

SAGE is a response to the issue of sustainability of the School Garden Initiative and is a new partner to KEB. Understanding the need for long tem continuity of edible school gardens, interested parties have come together to foster sustainability, encourage collaboration with the wider community, and promote a healthy future for our children. SAGE has garnered support from the Evanston Food Policy Council, The Talking Farm, District 65, the District 65 PTA Council, the District 65 Wellness Council, The Acorn Fund of the Evanston Community Foundation, The Wisdom Exchange, Slow Food Chicago, and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Through its partnership with KEB, SAGE benefited from receipt of 5% of net sales at both Evanston Whole Foods stores on Wednesday, April 7. KEB anticipates continued support for SAGE in conversations around sound ecological practices, development of a local food economy, and nutritional education for a healthy community.

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School Gardens in Evanston

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Dawes School Garden

The Dawes Edible Garden, now six years old, was one of the sites featured on the Keep Evanston Beautiful in June 2008.

Dawes student touring visitor through their edible garden at KEB's annual garden walk.
Dawes Edible Garden	Annual fall workday in the Dawes Edible Garden.

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Dewey School Garden

Under the leadership of Gwen Blossom, fourth grade teacher at Dewey, this school garden was put in place at Dewey School.

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Walker School Butterfly Garden

The Boy Scout troops helped prepare the soil and the Brownie Troop helped plant the flowers.

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Chute School

Tyrone Lord, Chute School Custodian is one of the many caretakers of the Chute Vegetable Garden created this summer. Kitty Okano, who headed the project, says its success is due to the involvement of many members of the Chute community.

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Green School Initiative

Over the years, many people both in the community and within District 65 have been instrumental in helping create greener schools in our community. More...

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