May 5, 2023 – Digging In 2012-13 Annual Report page 1

Digging In: Growing Outdoor Classrooms

2012-13 Annual Report

August 6, 2013

Table of Contents

Organization and Grant Information

1

Project Summary 1Outcomes 2Conclusions 4Budget 5

Digging In: Growing Outdoor Classrooms 2012-13 Annual

Report

A. Organizational and Grant Information The program is administered by the Madison Metropolitan School

District and five community partners: Community Action Coalition; Community GroundWorks, Sustain Dane; Health Forward Consulting; and the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension- Dane County.

Primary Contact: Nicole Nelson MMSD Administration Building, Curriculum and Assessment, Rm. 125,

545 West Dayton Street, Madison WI 53703 608-663-5208 nmnelson@madison.k12.wi.us Grant accepted by MMSD on July 9, 2012 Grant Award Amount: $350,000 over three years Grant #5972

B. Project Summary

This project addresses the need for active, engaged learning among children to improve academic achievement across all socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups through a vibrant community partnership. Digging In brings innovation, creativity and structure to current garden development and garden-based education in MMSD and other Dane County school districts through the installation or expansion of school gardens, community engagement, and teacher professional development.

Digging In will integrate outdoor, garden-based learning into the educational practice and culture of participating school districts for over 8,000 Dane County children attending at least 15 schools over three years.

Program Highlights: 2012-13 Five participating schools: Toki MS, Spring Harbor MS,

LakeView Elementary, Muir Elementary and Lincoln Elementary created or enhanced their outdoor classrooms

2,023 students, in five MMSD schools, benefitted from new or expanded outdoor classrooms.

14 MMSD teachers participated in a Garden-Based Education Professional Learning Community (PLC)

Garden team members (including principals, teachers, and parents) participated in a community engagement workshop

Every school held a community engagement event to promote the school garden and gain input from all community stakeholders.

Full staff Garden-Based Education Professional Development was led at two schools this spring (2013) and three more are scheduled for the Fall 2013.

Muir Elementary School developed a partnership with CUNA Mutual to install a garden. 50+ volunteers from CUNA worked alongside Muir students, teachers and parents during a daylong “build event”

Lincoln Elementary is hosting a summer Family Garden Class to strengthen their school community and teach practical horticulture skills.

Toki Middle School used the outdoor classroom design process as an opportunity for interdisciplinary learning through their Expeditionary Learning program.

Spring Harbor Middle School is expanding their outdoor classroom with a green house Lake View built an outdoor learning pavilion.

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“The biggest outcome we have to report so far from the Lincoln Garden has been the success of our pilot program, the Lincoln Family Garden School. This program was conceived with the idea of nurturing community engagement with the school garden while teaching Lincoln families gardening skills. In this first year, we have had 7 families participating and a consortium of community resources helping plan and implement the program. Groups involved are: the Community Action Coalition, the Dane County Extension Nutrition Education and Horticulture programs, the Master Gardener program, REAP Farm to School, and UW Madison Environmental Studies Dept.. We have held weekly sessions that started in May and have covered topics such as garden planning, how to plant and maintain the garden, container gardening, dealing with pests, and

C. Outcomes Intended outcomes from the original proposal include:

o Increase Teachers’ Use of School Gardens for Garden-Based Education through providing high quality outdoor learning spaces and professional development:

2 schools built new school gardens this year and 3 other schools extended their physical outdoor learning space

14 teachers, representing the 5 Year 1 GROW schools participated in monthly Garden -Based Professional Learning Community Meetings (PLC) meetings

2 schools conducted full staff Garden-Based Learning Professional Development - (Lincoln Elementary School provided the professional development programming for the Spring Harbor staff and Spring Harbor Middle School provided the programming for the Lincoln staff.). Lincoln reported that while prior to their Garden-Based Professional Development only a handful of teachers used the outdoors for teaching, the Friday after the PD session nearly all the teachers took their students outside for reading, a spelling test, science in the garden, walking the Wellness path for Physical Education and more!

Preliminary Data was collected regarding opinions of outdoor learning, perceived obstacles to integrating outdoor learning into instruction, and current practices. Initial results revealed:

91 % of teachers surveyed (n=111) at the GROW schools agreed that teaching outdoors was a rewarding experience, yet only 13% of these teachers felt they had a well developed “toolkit” for teaching outdoors.

The participating school staffs were asked, “What is the single biggest obstacle to you teaching outdoors/in gardens?” A word cloud found the most common responses:

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As of Fall 2012 all schools gardens were used every month until the winter holiday by at least one teacher (Sept.- Dec.).

Over 60% of GROW Professional Learning Community (PLC) teachers took their students to the garden 5 or more times over the 2012 Fall semester, yet only 28% of the GROW school’s whole staff responded that they took their students outdoors 4 or more times in the 2012 Fall semester.

Some of the responses that PLC teachers felt were their strengths included “understanding of garden-based education research” (70%), outdoor classroom management (80%), and community engagement and community building (60%).

o Increase Community Engagement in Garden-Based Learning All schools created teams that included teachers, administration and parents to lead the development

and use of the outdoor classroom. All 5 schools held community engagement events to invite neighbors, parents, staff and students to

learn more about the school garden and provide input into the garden design. A Community Engagement Planning Workshop was held for all GROW Garden Team members

(teachers, parents, principals) at the Arboretum. o Improve Academic Achievement

PLC teachers reported increased student engagement while working in the garden. Toki’s “How does your garden grow” 6th grade Expeditionary Learning curriculum was tied to the garden

and garden design. Intended outcomes not achieved:

o Because the gardens were not implemented until the end of Year 1, academic achievement, measured by the WKCE, will be reported in the Year 2 report.

o The areas that teachers felt needed the most improvement were areas that could be alleviated by Professional Development (NGSS, developing and practicing GBE lesson plans, and gardening/horticulture skills).

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Unintended outcomes which were achieved:

D. ConclusionsDuring year one, the Program Team realized the

necessity of having a platform to provide information, networking opportunities, and project management support for school teams. In order to provide these critical services, we have partnered with the MPower School Champions Program, a Sustain Dane school sustainability program funded through the EPA. -- Through MPower the Year 2 “Green Teams” (parents, teachers, and principals) will to participate in monthly “Sustainability Sessions” where they will receive information and skill development to help them achieve the outcomes of the grant. For example, Sustainability Sessions will address garden design, community engagement plans, budgeting, etc. MPower has the added benefit of providing a more comprehensive approach to sustainability and outdoor education and will support the integration of other sustainable practices in schools.

Another improvement being implemented in Year 2 of the grant, is the designation of a “garden expert” for each participating school.(CAC, Community GroundWorks, and UW-Extension). During the first year, all organizations were involved with all schools which lead to difficulties in communication and coordination. Having an individual “garden expert” as the go-to contact for each school will streamline the process.

The team aims to also improve the “story telling” of the project through increased media releases and communication within MMSD and the Madison community. Each month during our Program Team Meetings we will identify a story to tell and the coalition member responsible for getting the story out through Facebook, press releases or district media outlets. In addition each participating school will be required to create a Facebook page to publicize and engage their community in this project.

The PLC will directly address the obstacles teachers feel towards teaching and learning in an outdoor classroom. The PLC is developing garden-based units of

study using a “Phenology Wheel (or Life Cycle Wheel)” framework. These units will be disseminated this year though professional development to the GROW schools’ staff members. In addition, the PLC members will continue to act as leaders

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“While working with a 4th grader who spends her vacations and summers with her family in rural Mexico…I know next to nothing about gardening, and she just lit up as she explained it to me.  To be able to tap into that experience and knowledge made her feel so confident and so valued.  She told me the workday was her favorite day all year.” ~ parent volunteer, Muir Elementary School

by modeling best practices in outdoor education and document success in terms of academic achievement, student behavior, and attendance.

The project can also be improved by the GROW Organizations helping to build capacity within each GROW school for project management, communication, and fundraising. Time will be dedicated to developing these skills during the sustainability sessions.

E. Budget

Additional funders and amounts – CUNA $3,000 Efforts to leverage additional funding: Currently - an outstanding Goodman Community Foundation Grant

proposal.

Personnel Year 1 Request Year 1 Match Actual ExpensesMMSD Science Instructional Resource Teacher (.03) - 1,000.00 -MMSD Assistant Director of Curriculum and Assessment (.01) - 2,624.00 -

MMSD Teaching and Learning Expert (.05) 35,000.00 - 28,311.98Extended Employment 5,400.00 - 2,867.52Subcontracts:Community GroundWorks - 12,000.00 -UW Extension Facilitator 2,200.00 - 2,200.00UW Extension Nutrition Educator (.25 salary & fringe) - 11,520.00 -Horticulure Educator (.05) - 2,882.00 -

4-H Youth Development Educator (.075) - 6,708.00 -

Health Forward Consulting Facilitator - 500.00 -

Overall Project Manager/Developer (.3 time Sustain Dane staff) 12,000.00 - 12,000.00Expert Guests Stipend 800.00 - 100.00Community Action Coalition 10,045.00 - 10,045.00Expenses:

Photocopying (Supplies, food meetings) 163.00 - 264.34Computer for T & L Expert (laptop) 1,085.00 - 1,085.00

Garden Materials ($8,000 per school) 40,000.00 - 11,175.43Subtotal: 106,693.00 37,234.00 68,049.27Indirect costs @ 3.01 3,307.00 1,813.17Total Annual Cost 110,000.00 69,862.44

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Digging In: Growing Outdoor Classrooms 2012-13

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