The Benefits of A School Garden

In Case You Were Wondering:

With thanks to our friends at the National Gardening Association and kidsgardening.org! Available online here. 

THE BENEFITS OF A SCHOOL GARDEN:

Significantly increase science achievement scores.- Klemmer, C. D., T. M. Waliczek, and J. M. Zajicek. 2005. Growing minds: The effect of a school gardening program on the science achievement of elementary students. HortTechnology15(3):448-452.

- Smith, L. L., and C. E. Motsenbocker. 2005. Impact of hands-on science through school gardening in Louisiana public elementary schools.HortTechnology 15(3):439-443.

Improve social skills and behavior.
- DeMarco, L., P. D. Relf, and A. McDaniel. 1999. Integrating gardening into the elementary school curriculum. HortTechnology 9(2):276-281.

Improve environmental attitudes, especially in younger students. - Skelly, S. M., and J. M. Zajicek. 1998. The effect of an interdisciplinary garden program on the environmental attitudes of elementary school students. HortTechnology 8(4):579- 583.

Instill appreciation and respect for nature that lasts into adulthood. - Lohr, V.I. and C.H. Pearson-Mims. 2005. Children’s active and passive interactions with plants influence their attitudes and actions toward trees and gardening as adults. HortTechnology. 15(3): 472-476.

Improve life skills, including working with groups and self-understanding. - Robinson, C.W., and J. M. Zajicek. 2005. Growing minds: the effects of a one-year school garden program on six constructs of life skills of elementary school children. HortTechnology 15(3):453-457.

Increase interest in eating fruits and vegetables and improve attitude toward fruits and vegetables. 
- Pothukuchi, K. 2004. Hortaliza: A Youth “Nutrition Garden” in Southwest Detroit. Children, Youth and Environments 14(2):124-155.

Improve attitude toward vegetables and toward fruit and vegetable snacks 
- Lineberger, S. E., and J. M. Zajicek. 1999. School gardens: Can a hands-on teaching tool affect students’ attitudes and behaviors regarding fruits and vegetables? HortTechnology 10(3):593-597.

Improve nutrition knowledge and vegetable preferences. 
- Morris, JL and Zidenberg-Cherr, S. 2002. Garden-based nutrition curriculum improves fourth-grade school children's knowledge of nutrition and preferences for some vegetables. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 102(1): 91-93.

Increase preference of vegetables.
-Gatto, N., Ventura, E., Cook, L., Gyllenhammer, L., and Davis, J. 2012. LA Sprouts:  A garden-based nutrition intervention pilot program influences motivation and preferences for fruits and vegetables in Latino youth. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 112(6): 913-920.

- Morris, JL and Zidenberg-Cherr, S. 2002. Garden-based nutrition curriculum improves fourth-grade school children's knowledge of nutrition and preferences for some vegetables. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 102(1): 91-93.

Increase children’s knowledge about the benefits of eating fruit and vegetables and participants reported eating healthier snacks. 
- Koch, S., T. M. Waliczek, and J.M. Zajicek. 2006. The Effect of Summer Garden Program on the Nutritional Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors of Children. HortTechnology 16 (4): 620-625.

Increase fruit and vegetable consumption in adolescents. 
- McAleese, J.D., and L.L. Rankin. 2007. Garden-Based Nutrition Education Affects Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Sixth-Grade Adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 107 (4): 662-665.

Contribute to communication of knowledge and emotions, while developing skills that will help them be more successful in school. 
- Miller, D. L. The Seeds of Learning: Young Children Develop Important Skills Through Their Gardening Activities at a Midwestern Early Education Program.Applied Environmental Education & Communication 6(1):49-66.

Have a positive impact on student achievement and behavior. 
- Blair, D. (2009). The child in the garden: an evaluative review of the benefits of school gardening. Journal of Environmental Education 40(2), 15-38.

Our Warmest Thanks!

A very warm thanks to GREENSTAR LANDSCAPING!  Greenstar is generously partnering with the Children's Garden this year to help us maintain and grow this special space.  

Share the love SPE - this company is an Angie's List super service award winner and believes in the importance of community and giving back!  They have chosen to help our Children's Garden and we are very grateful!  

Thank you Greenstar Landscaping Company

2015-2016

IT'S A BRAND NEW YEAR!

Welcome Back SPE!

Our award winning Children's Garden has been busy over the summer months.  We welcome you back and look forward to another wonderful year together.

We are delighted to share our new OUTDOOR CLASSROOM!  Thanks to the Lowe's Toolbox for Education Grant, we have a new outdoor space for learning and growing!  Stay tuned - we aren't finished yet!

Fall Family Garden Day 2014

THANK YOU WHOLE KIDS FOUNDATION for a very special SPE Family Garden Day!

Thanks to a grant from the Whole Kids Foundation supported by Whole Foods, the SPE Children's Garden received new permanent cedar beds and water conserving drip irrigation.  

We had a special Family Garden Day to add soil and compost to our new beds.  

The kids added some beautiful new artwork to our pavers and we planted eight new butterfly attracting plants.

It was a beautiful afternoon in the SPE Children's Garden!  Thank you to all of the kids and families who came to support our award winning garden!

Special Thanks to the parents and families of ANDREA CARDONA for generously running our art shop, MIKE GOREY, ANDREA LEGGIERI, NIRKA BURNS, CHRIS MAHIEU, KELLY FITZGERALD, MICHELLE BROWN, MICHELLE LA LLAVE, ANNABELLE CLEMENT, STEPHANIE BACK, KERRY STEELE, THE JOHANSON FAMILY and COUNTLESS MORE for fearlessly dragging bags of soil and compost, managing small children with rakes and showing kids the value of hard work, one shovel at a time.

Thanks to our wonderful caring community at SPE, we have a beautiful growing and learning space in the heart of our school.

As Always, We Grow The Garden Together!

The New Cedar Beds are HERE!

Our new cedar beds have arrived! The new drip lines are here!  We are getting ready for our Classroom Plantings!

Don't forget to join us at the Fall Family Garden Day on Friday, October 17th from 3 - 5 pm.  We will be celebrating our grant from the Whole Kids Foundation and preparing the beds for the growing season!

BIG THANKS to the time and effort of our wonderful parents at our Fall Work Day:  Nirka Burns, Beth Capedevila, Andrea Cardona, Michelle La Llave and Stephanie Tatum!

Extra special thanks to Carey Carvalho, Kelly Fitzpatrick and Kerry Steele.  They are changing the world, one pair of clippers at a time! These hard working ladies stayed on to prune and prune, and prune..... Look at the beautiful results.  

The Teacher's Garden

A Very Warm Thank You to Super-Parents Kerry Steele and Stephanie Back for creating and maintaining our beautiful Teacher's Garden. 

This is a reclaimed area next to the Children's Garden devoted to growing GREAT things for our GREAT teachers all year long!

Welcome From The Children's Garden: 2014-2015

SOUTH POINTE ELEMENTARY

a Children’s Garden  a

Welcome Back to Another Great Year in the Garden!

The children’s garden, located in the courtyard, is our well loved organic edible garden. It is surrounded by a butterfly garden and serves our school as an outdoor classroom.  It is one more way SPE is such a special place!

Every student at SPE has the opportunity to come out and plant in the garden with their classroom.  Classrooms watch their gardens grow and then enjoy the fruits of their labor. Last year, over 350 SPE students planted classroom gardens. After harvest, students were able to sample delicious recipes and foods made with the produce from their own classroom garden bed.  

It is a wonderful chance for hands-on active learning about nutrition, sustainability, science and good stewardship.

Throughout the year we support:

a Family Garden Days

a The Annual Green Market

a Planting and Harvest with SPE Classrooms

a Garden Lesson Plans tied to IB and Common Core

a Community Partnerships in Miami Beach

If you are interested in learning more about growing, planting or spending time in the garden, please consider joining us or donating to the garden.  

Everyone welcome.

No experience required and we have plenty of gloves! 

Email any questions to spegarden@gmail.com  

 a WE GROW THE GARDEN TOGETHER a