On January 30th, 2015, over 300 school garden enthusiasts from all over Oregon came to the 2nd Annual Oregon School Garden Summit, at the Willamette Heritage Center in Salem. Attendees included both returnees from the first School Garden Summit in 2014, and plenty of newcomers. They left with ideas, information and inspiration about how to make their school garden programs successful and sustainable for the thousands of students who benefit from them around the state.

2015 Oregon School Garden Summit Summary

• Hands-on Activities for Preschool, Elementary, Middle School, and High School

• Safely Moving Garden food to the Cafeteria• Selling Produce• Selling Plants• Nutrition Education and Gardens• Working with Facilities and Administrators• Hiring Garden Coordinators• Bringing a Global Perspective to Your Garden • How can OSU Extension support School gardens

More? • Permaculture on Campus• Arts and Humanities in the Garden• Talking to (older) Kids about Food Justice• Partnerships and Volunteer Engagements• Strategies for Summer

240 N Broadway, Suite 214 Portland, OR 97227 • www.UpstreamPublicHealth.org • 503.284.6390

Participants had time to participate in two different “micro discussions” from this list. Each topic had an experienced leader to guide the conversation, but these were an opportunity for people to connect with their peers and share information, ideas, and questions of their own.

Beginner:• What to do Before Getting Started• Setting you Learning Objectives and Strategies• Garden Design Workshop

The workshops were designed not just to cover a wide range of interesting topics but also to highlight diverse presenters, representing different sizes and levels of schools, different corners of the state, different cultural heritages, and different levels of formal training of their own. They featured a track specifically for beginning school gardeners, and lots of options for more experienced school gardeners.

Intermediate/Advanced:• Evaluation Strategies• Enhancing and Aligning Garden Curriculum for STEM

Standards• “Hard Knocks:” Recognizing but Working With Real

Challenges

Intermediate:• School Gardens for All Students: Diversity and Inclusion• School Gardens in the Context of Poverty and Hunger• Case Studies of School Gardens Throughout Oregon• Hands-On Activities and Classroom Management for K-5• Fundraising: Strategies, Success & Relationships• Engaging the School Community

Workshops (by experience level)

Table Topics

Thanks again to our sponsors:

CollaborationFor 2015,Upstream Public Health worked with our partners in the Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network to schedule a “Farm to School Summit” at the same location, one day before the School Garden Summit. Pairing the two events helped both events grow. Many participants attended both events increasing their knowledge of both halves of the “farm to school and school garden” equation, and making more connections, while reducing travel time and expenses.

• CareOregon • Organic Valley • Oregon Department of Agriculture• Oregon Department of Education • Oregon Fruit Products • PacificSource Healthplan

• OEA Choice Trust• Portland Nursery

97% of attendees said they would recommend the School Garden Summit to a colleague.

96% of attendees said they got “information, ideas, and inspiration to make their school gardens more

effective and sustainable.”

89.5% of attendees said that they would attend again.

Participant Feedback “Wonderful to be with such knowledgeable and inspired/inspiring people who share a similar passion to connect children with their food and the earth! So important in so many ways!!”

“The very last speaker of the day (from the 500th school) was awesome and memorable.”

“The Diversity and Inclusion workshop was fantastic! I really liked the table topics which gave us a chance to have conversations in smaller groups.”

“I really like the complete contact list for all participants and presenters. It was very helpful to have it all complied for me.”

21%  

22%  

29%  

20%  8%  

Years of Experience in School Gardens

Fewer than Two Years (22%)

Two to Five Years (29%)

Brand New to School Gardens (21%)

Five to Ten Years (20%)

More than Ten Years (8%)