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Plants for Human Health Institute 
STEM Education
Plants for Human Health Institute

Building Gardens. Building Minds.

An online course for learning how to establish a school garden and utilize it as an engaging outdoor classroom.

Click here to register!

Next offering: September 14-October 26, $35

In addition to basic site preparation and crop considerations that will help you build a garden, the course will cover behavior management, curriculum connections, and building a school culture that supports building minds.

The 6-week course includes:

  • 12 asynchronous online modules
  • 2 synchronous Zoom sessions led by instructors, Amy Bowman and Doug Vernon
  • 1 in-person hands-on workshop
  • School garden T-shirt

Target Audience

  • K-8 teachers
  • School counselors
  • School nurses
  • Anyone involved in a school garden effort
    • Extension agents
    • 4-H club leaders
    • Master Gardeners
    • Community volunteers

Earn up to 2.5 CEUs

In this course we lay a solid foundation for school garden establishment, development and program growth. The 6-week course offers self-paced online modules, supported with cohort Zoom meetings every 3 weeks, and culminating in an 1-day in-person workshop. The date of the in-person workshop will be decided based feedback from each cohort.

A school garden provides an opportunity where students can explore a unique learning environment. The school garden is a highly engaging classroom for students to explore all curriculum areas as well as social emotional learning.

We will walk participants through the steps of establishing a school garden and utilizing it as an engaging outdoor classroom. In addition to basic site preparation and crop considerations that will help you build a garden, we’ll look at behavior management, curriculum connections, and building a school culture that supports building minds. Our goal is to meet teachers where they are in their school garden journey and to help them become comfortable and confident in moving forward. 

Course Outline

  • Module 1: Benefits of School Gardens
  • Module 2: Before the Build
  • Module 3: Designing and Building your Outdoor Classroom
  • Module 4: Crop Selection and Planning
  • Module 5: Planting
  • Module 6: Maintenance
  • Module 7: Safety in the Garden
  • Module 8: Student Management
  • Module 9: Teaching in the Garden
  • Module 10: Harvesting
  • Module 11: Tastings and Nutrition
  • Module 12: Garden Sustainability and Growing Your Program