Fund For Teachers

1. Symposium on Innovation and Leadership Fund For Teachers

2. INNOVATORS value and embrace challenges and changeLEADERS act as positive agents to facilitate and support change in a safe, accepting environment

3. 2010 Fellowship Project • Traveled to Australia to learn about and experience kitchen gardening in elementary schools • Worked with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation • Visited 12 schools in Victoria, 1 school in New South Wales • Learned how to effectively utilize gardening and cooking to address core curriculum and social emotional skills

4. Impact on Innovation • Renewed personal passion to explore, design and implement a dynamic approach to learning • Challenged to modify and adapt gardening activities and kitchen lessons/recipes for students with severe-profound special needs • Sought and secured grant funding to enhance school garden space with addition of a greenhouse (extend growing season)

5. Impact on Leadership • Challenged to generate excitement and enthusiasm among colleagues and students for using the school garden • Worked in the garden and kitchen with 2 classrooms on a weekly basis; shared knowledge and skills with cooperating teachers • Designed and presented workshops with school based garden committee • Collaborated with colleague to develop and lead district wide study group to explore social benefits of kitchen gardening

6. Student Participation

7. Student Participation

8. Student Impact Over the course of the year, students demonstrated: • Increased interest and physical engagement • Increase in sustained attention • New skills in the garden and kitchen • Deliberate intent to communicate (request and comment) • Increased ability to follow routine and novel directions • Increased tolerance and willingness for exploring new flavors/textures/foods • Sense of pride and ownership • Increased understanding of responsibility • Increased understanding of delayed gratification

9. School-wide Impact Over the course of the year, staff demonstrated: • Increased interest in using the garden for lessons • Interest in using fresh produce for cooking activities • Interest in weekly recipes and results • Curiosity about how to make vegetable based recipes “user friendly” for students with eating issues • Interest in planning and planting the garden for the upcoming school year

10. Garden Lesson: Sensory Exploration and Descriptions Salsa Lesson Plan (Garden)

11. Kitchen Lesson: Late Summer Salsa Salsa Lesson Plan (Kitchen)

12. From Garden to Plate

14. Student Recipes Veggie soup Pumpkin pancakes Green tomato raspberry jam Caprese Basil fettuccini Squash blossom quesadilla

15. Student Voice and Choice • Students use a variety of means to communicate • Students vote/rate recipes • Students plan upcoming garden plantings

16. Student Voice and Choice

17. Year End Reflections • After several months of structure and routine, students began to look forward to gardening and cooking sessions • Parents and teachers commented on students’ willingness to try new and healthy foods • Need to more fully develop “off season” gardening activities and more effectively utilize preserved harvest • Setting the challenge level high enough without reaching frustration level elicited and sustained student interest and engagement • Positive attitudes exhibited by staff (support, therapy, teaching) directly affected student attitudes and participation

18. Upcoming Steps • Incorporate use of greenhouse to extend growing season • Expand the kitchen garden program to two additional classrooms in upcoming year • Present quarterly workshops for parents and caregivers • Create shared database with lessons, activities and recipes