Gardens change youth. Youth change the world.
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Health
By the age of 20, one in three elementary students will be overweight and four in ten will have type II diabetes. We are changing that by growing food which makes nutrition fun and personal.
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Academics
Outdoor, living laboratories and project-based learning bridge textbooks and the real world. Gardens can help youth who struggle with learning science to increase their test scores by up to 17%.
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Wellbeing
In a time when more students than ever feel disconnected from their school and community, gardens bring people together to make a difference and give space for exploration and play.
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Partner with One Cool Earth
1. Choose what program tier is right for your school
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Standard Program:
A Garden Educator spends 10 hours per week devoted to your school. They provide:
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Lite Program:
A Garden Educator spends 10 hours every other week devoted to your school. They provide:
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2. Pick your add-ons
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Garden Build
If your school needs the garden infrastructure to host our program (or a garden revamp) we can customize a garden build that fits your space. Price is dependent on the size and extent of the garden build. Virtual Family Cooking Night Virtually led by your Garden Educator, our Family Cooking Night includes all ingredients, materials, recipes and instruction. Kids will learn how to cook delicious meals in their own kitchens! Additional Garden Workdays This is a two hour, One Cool Earth-led workday. We will advertise the event to the school community, procure materials and recruit outside volunteers. Grow, Cook, Eat After School Program Up to 15 students can participate in this 1 hour, 3 week after school garden program. Utilizing the garden as a platform, our after school program curriculum focuses on social emotional learning concepts. Check out these lessons on our 'Curriculum' tab. Seasonal Farm Stand This mini-market provides garden produce to families. With the guidance of your Garden Educator, students will harvest and wash garden goods and set up at an after school market. Garden Lunch Club Your Garden Educator will supervise up to 15 students each week to enjoy the garden during their lunch recess. |
Green Team Trainings and Coordination
This is a group of superstar students and adults who lead campus waste sorting and reduction efforts and manage the garden compost system. Coordination involves two staff and student trainings per year plus 40 hrs of coordination/Garden Educator support. Garden Gathering This is a two hour after school event for teachers and school staff. Join our One Cool Earth team in your school garden and learn how to use our curriculum, receive a lesson kit to share with your class, discuss techniques in engaging the school community in garden efforts, set goals for garden projects and learn more about how OCE operates on your campus. School-Wide Waste Audit Your garden educator will lead a full-day waste audit to determine how much waste is accumulated in a given day. Students will sort and weigh waste and learn how to classify and distinguish recycling, compost, and landfill items. Together, we will brainstorm waste reduction strategies to adopt on campus. Virtual Field Trips One Cool Earth will connect teachers to virtual field trip opportunities. Pricing dependent on field trip. Reach out to learn more! In-person Field Trips One Cool Earth will connect teachers to local field trip opportunities. Pricing dependent on field trip. Reach out to learn more! |
3. Consider Funding Options
We subsidized over 50 percent of our program fee with grants, community and foundation partnerships. Half of the funding is still needed from the school district, the school itself, and PTA/Os.
School Program Fees for 2022-2023 are based on our two program tiers:
Standard Program
Lite Program
Program discounts are available for district-wide contracts. Contact us directly for more information!
4. Submit an Interest Form
Program FAQ
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How do I know what tier is right for my school?
If you need clarification on what tier is right for you, please reach out and we will help you make an informed decision. What kind of curriculum is taught? Our Earth Genius Curriculum is designed to support NGSS performance expectations and centered around three themes: Zero Waste, Water Wise, and Food Forest. What this means is that your Educator will lead hands-on environmental lessons, nutrition lessons and nature connection activities, all while meeting high academic standards. What qualifications do your Garden Educators have? All of our Garden Educators are fingerprinted, trained in social-emotional learning, and complete a Mandated Reporting Training and Food Handlers training. Additionally, we only hire the most qualified Educators with experience working with kids and managing gardens. The have an in-depth training at the start of the year, plus monthly follow-up trainings to reinforce expectations and deepen their expertise. How will my teachers be supported? Teachers have the opportunity to participate in Teacher Trainings, they are able to reach out to the Garden Educator any time, plus they have access to a huge database of lesson plans, video lessons, resource guides and more on our website. How does the program integrate into the school outside of the garden? We believe that our program creates a culture of environmental literacy and stewardship at our partner schools, especially when there is the addition of a Green Team on campus and teachers are well trained on how to use our resources for their own lessons. The campus and its systems are a tool to address food, water and waste as a whole community! Are garden supplies covered in the price of the program? Some supplies will be provided within the cost of the program to ensure beautiful and bountiful gardens, but we always encourage the PTA/Os to pitch in for extra projects that might be more costly like construction of a rain capture system or expansion of the garden. Depending on the size of the garden, we recommend the PTA/O gives $250 - $1000 for supplemental supplies. What add-ons can I request at my school? Glad you asked! We have many items that can be purchased as additional opportunities for your school. These include Family Cooking Nights, Waste Audits, Seasonal Farmers Markets and more. We also have extensive online resources that can be accessed for free. What if my school or district can't cover certain costs? What other options are there? Luckily, as a non-profit organization we are able to help schools and districts take advantage of many grants and sponsorship opportunities that are available. We are happy to talk about funding opportunities that may support the sustainability of our partnership if need be. |