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Quarterly Report-1st Quarter

July 1, 2009 to October 3, 2009

This year, as our gardens have grown, so too has the reach and impact of our REAL School

Gardens programming. We have grown from a local program of 40 schools to a regional

program serving 66 schools in five different school districts. We are now creating and nurturing

outdoor classrooms not only in Fort Worth schools, but also in the Grand Prairie and Dallas

school districts. Our program staff has expanded from a team of three to a team of six, and we

are moving forward with an Operational Plan, which outlines our four organizational goals, six

key initiatives to support these goals and measures of success to track our progress. During the

first quarter of the 2009-2010 school/fiscal year, we made remarkable progress on our plan,

and we’re excited to share it!

GOAL 1: Help elementary schools create, support and sustain school gardens so children

connect with nature in engaging, nurturing and inspirational ways

Key Initiative: Collaborate with schools to implement Essential Features of learning gardens

Measure: Percentage of school gardens that contain Essential Features for learning

Expansion Schools

With six brand-new school gardens and seven new “Dig In” school gardens, we are ushering

more and more children into learning gardens every day. Both our new-school Retreat and our

introductory “Dig In” events were hugely successful, with principals, teachers, and parents

attending to represent their schools. Event participants not only engaged in intensive training

and planning but also had some fun – which included staff serenades and high-quality food!

HIGHLIGHTS:

Six new school partners scheduled to break ground on gardens in 2010

Eleven “Dig In” school garden enhancements

Record attendance at Professional Development Day event

A blossoming cooperative spirit in our REAL School Gardens community

Four-hundred-sixty volunteer hours contributed to our programs

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Existing Schools

In addition to events for new school partners, we provided a heavy dose of garden design

support for two long-standing school partners in Fort Worth: Alice Contreras and South Hills

Elementary Schools. The purpose of these cooperative efforts was to establish Essential

Features of learning in the gardens – and the results have been spectacular. School staff

members have reported that, due to the new design, garden usage has increased remarkably.

The principal at Contreras shared the story of a teacher whom she never thought would use the

garden, but who has facilitated outdoor inquiry with her students now that the garden is so

inviting.

GOAL 2: Encourage the use of school gardens to support children’s learning of skills,

processes and content while immersing them in the natural world

Key Initiative: Promote teaching and learning in the gardens

Measures:

o Number of children using the garden

o Number of educators/individuals participating in learning events

o Effectiveness of RSG Professional Development (based on participant

evaluations)

Teaching Visits

Two of our Garden Coordinators made five “garden integration visits” to our school partners,

working directly with 63 educators. A highlight of the visits was a 5th-grade lesson on 3-digit-

by-2-digit multiplication, which illustrated the concept by using Dallas grass seed heads – an

innovative, experiential teaching approach, which provides students with a practical and local

application for their math skills. Modeling teaching expands educators’ perceptions of what is

possible in school gardens and promotes garden use for all academic subjects.

Student Use

Last year’s our partner schools’ garden usage reports showed that almost 9,000 students used

their school garden. This year, we have challenged schools to log a collective 20,000 hours of

garden use. We will receive our first round of usage reports from school garden coordinators at

the beginning of the third quarter.

“I am very excited and ready to get down and dirty. Loved every aspect of this

training/meeting.” – Retreat Participant

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Professional Development Day

Our August Professional Development (PD) Day brought together a record 190 educators to

learn from a panel of experts, which included REAL School Gardens staff, representatives from

the Sid Richardson Museum and the City of Fort Worth. One notable PD session was “Exploring

Alternative Energy in the Outdoor Classroom,” which was facilitated by KidWind and funded by

Motorola. Participation, as well as participant satisfaction, rose from our last PD event:

Seventy-seven percent of participant respondents said they had acquired new

knowledge and skills, which would help them teach outdoors.

Ninety-seven percent of participant respondents said their likelihood to teach outdoors

was above average or excellent, as a result of the event.

GOAL 3: Foster a cooperative spirit among schools, families and the surrounding community

through involvement with school gardens

Key Initiative: Community build & increase grassroots involvement

Measures: Cooperative spirit

We fine-tuned plans for next quarter to begin Design Charrettes for new schools installations and for

“Dig In” schools. These events will make it possible for schools, families and the surrounding community

to participate in our Community Design process. Once we receive the first set of feedback forms from

school garden coordinators at the beginning of the third quarter, we will report on volunteer activities at

schools, such as family gardening days.

Goal 4: Create a vibrant, sharing network of educators and partners who commit to putting

school gardens at the heart of urban neighborhoods

Key Initiative: Community build & increase grassroots involvement

Measures:

o Number of educators/individuals participating in networking events

o Total number of volunteer hours

o Total number of volunteers

o Beneficial results of volunteerism

o Number of website hits, contacts and members from Texas

“I will use everything I have seen [at this event] – the water stations, the field guides, everything.” – PD Day Participant

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Garden Coordinator Meeting

Our Garden Coordinator meeting in September was a huge success, as representatives from 44

of our 48 local schools were in attendance. The event brought together 60 garden coordinators,

53 school representatives, two community members and five REAL School Gardens’ staff

members to share information, resources, best practices and successes.

Volunteers

As a result of proactive volunteer recruitment, we benefited from 460 volunteer hours from

115 volunteers. In November, Motorola employees pitched in to help maintain one of our

school gardens, and in August, youth from Tarrant County Juvenile Services pitched in to clean

up two other school gardens. In a calming outdoor setting, the youth contributed to their

community while learning about gardening and native plants. Our outreach efforts also led to

new partnerships with Texas Christian University and Master Gardeners.

Website

Our nationally award-winning website experienced increased traffic increased due to a

Motorola Grant press release, Professional Development Day and coverage in Fort Worth,

Converge and Jack and Jill magazines. Currently, our website benefits our programs through:

5,757 visits

3,919 unique visitors

An average of 59.6 percent new visitors each month

“Growing your own vegetables is a no-brainer for going green: you’ll enjoy the delicious results of

your efforts, you’ll save some trips to the store, and you’ll be eating organically for a lot less. Need

help? Just ask a local elementary school student—here in Fort Worth, a lot of them already know

how it’s done, thanks to Real School Gardens. The grassroots organization partners with urban

elementary schools to design, install and sustain school gardens that serve as hands-on outdoor

classrooms to students all over the Metroplex.” – Fort Worth, Texas Magazine, September 2009.