Resources for Educators
Training + Professional Development
Trainings & Workshops
Growing Gardens School Garden Coordinator Certificate Training
A 35-hour training to help individuals learn how to facilitate the creation of long-lasting edible school gardens. Sessions include everything from community engagement, to curriculum, to garden-to-cafeteria guidelines to fundraising. Continuing education credits are available through Portland State University’s Graduate School of Education.
Classes held at various locations in NE and SE Portland. The next SGCCT will be tentatively held virtually in summer 2021. The in person SGCCT is offered biennially, and will be held next in 2022. To learn more and to add yourself to a list to be notified of details of the next training, see: https://www.growing-gardens.org/sgcct/
Garden Education Professional Learning Community *Potentially to be reinstated in 2022
Growing Gardens facilitates a regional Professional Learning Community (PLC) for classroom teachers to support each other in using school gardens to enhance curriculum and increase student engagement. Each year twelve public school K-8 classroom teachers find new ways of working together to use school gardens to meet classroom learning goals and the needs of their students. Participants have the opportunity to earn two graduate credits through Portland State University Graduate School of Education Continuing Education (CEED) program for their professional development work as part of this PLC.
Please send inquiries for the 2022 PLC to Anna Garwood, Youth Grow Program Director, anna@growing-gardens.org
Master Gardener Training
OSU Extension Service’s Master Gardener Training program prepares participants to become proficient gardeners and community resources within their own bioregion. To become an OSU Master Gardener, you must complete the training program, pass an examination, and volunteer a specific number of hours of public service through your local Master Gardener Program.
Contact your local extension office for more information about upcoming trainings: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/master-gardener-training
Summer Ag Institute
A project of the Oregon Farm Bureau Foundation for Education, the Summer Ag Institute (SAI) is a three-credit, week-long, graduate-level class through Oregon State University that educates K-12 teachers with little or no background in agriculture.
The goal of SAI is to help educators use agriculture as a context for teaching standard subjects like science, math, social studies, and English. Current, factual, and scientific information about agriculture is presented, and participants are provided with educational materials to help them incorporate what they’ve learned into their classrooms.
Through SAI, teachers are given first-hand experiences in the agriculture industry. The action-packed week includes field trips to farms and ranches, tours of processing plants, and lectures and hands-on labs taught by university professors. The highlight of the week is an overnight stay on a working farm where the teacher has an opportunity to meet a real farm family.
There are two sessions of SAI each summer: one held in Corvallis in June, and a second held in La Grande in July. Enrollment cost for a graduate-level, three-credit session is a mere $600.
http://www.oregonfb.org/programs/summer-ag-institute/
Teaching in Nature’s Classroom
This course, developed as a companion to the book Teaching in Nature’s Classroom: Principles of Garden-Based Education, is an opportunity for educators new to outdoor and garden-based learning, as well as educators who are experienced in the field, to consider best practices and reflect on their own teaching practice in outdoor learning environments, with a focus on school and community youth gardens.
The coursework is intended to be useful and inspirational. You should plan for 30 hours total to complete the course. This course is designed to be flexible and self-directed so you can fulfill the course requirements according to your optimal timeframe and in relation to your concurrent teaching duties and other obligations.
If you have any questions about the course itself or registering for the course, please email info@wischoolgardens.org
https://wischoolgardens.org/tnc-course/
Olivewood Garden and Learning Center
Our School Garden Teacher Training enhances and broadens the capacity of school staff and parents to establish and use their own school garden. The course orients educators of the power of school gardens in promoting academic achievement, healthy lifestyles, environmental stewardship, and community and social development. Olivewood Gardens is an expert in the Next Generation Science Standards and aims to equip every teacher with tools necessary to integrate science, health, and the environment into all aspects of learning. Participants can learn how to establish a school garden team and become familiar with a variety of helpful resources related to creating and sustaining a school garden program at their school site. Additionally, our trained educators can facilitate lessons specific to each group- interested in learning more about compost? Or exploring natural phenomena in your school garden? We want to hear from you!
https://www.olivewoodgardens.org/classes-programs/our-programs/school-garden-teacher-trainings/
Green Our Planet STEM Teacher Trainings
Green Our Planet offers three professional development trainings to Nevada teachers. Each training, offered twice during the school year, is approved by the Nevada Department of Education. Teachers earn 1 PDE credit or 5 CUs for participating in the training and completing additional online coursework and a final project that benefits their outdoor classroom and school community. For the first time, Green Our Planet’s popular PDE STEM Teacher Trainings are online! Our talented team of teachers, horticulturalists and hydroponics experts offer a full slate of teacher trainings throughout the 2020-21 school year. https://greenourplanet.org/teacher-training/
LifeLab School Garden Educator Certification
Building on Life Lab’s 40 years of experience in the school garden movement, we’ve updated and put together a series of 4 virtual courses that will guide and support educators in becoming a Life Lab-Certified School Garden Educator. Upon completion of the 4 courses, participants will receive a certificate and the distinction of being a Life Lab-Certified Garden Educator.
https://lifelab.org/educator-certification-program/
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center School Garden Teacher Training *Not currently being offered due to COVID
By connecting to Common Core Standards and Next Generation Science Standards with a STREAM focus, the course supports school teams to incorporate school gardens into multiple subject areas using place-based, experiential learning.
Through a combination of hands-on sessions, trips to local school gardens, and presentations of best practices by experts in the field, participants gain experience in: the basics of organic gardening & permaculture design, pedagogical approaches to teaching outside and project-based learning, school-wide systems integration such as farm-to-cafeteria organizing skills to engage the larger neighborhood & community
LifeLab NGSS and Outdoor Classroom Workshops
Life Lab is excited to bring a virtual workshop to you! Our synchronous virtual workshops are conducted over Zoom and include a mix of presented material, interactive discussions, and even some hands-on learning! We are currently offering NGSS in the Garden and Responsive Outdoor Classroom Management, but we can also customize the content and the length of the workshop based on your program needs. Each workshop also includes discussions and best practices around COVID-related procedures and adjustments. The cost for a training is approximately $800, and trainings are facilitated by Life Lab trainers. https://lifelab.org/for-educators/
Conferences
Oregon Farm to School & School Garden Conference
The purpose of the Conference is to support members of Oregon’s farm to school and school garden community in their work to provide farm and garden-based education and incorporate healthy, local food into school meals for students grades PreK-12.
Our audience is food service directors and staff, farmers/producers, distributors, enrichment instructors, OSU Extension staff and volunteers, classroom teachers, school administrators, government agency staff, non-profit staff, and parents and community volunteers and others working to support Oregon’s farm to school and school garden programs.
To find out about future Summits, contact the Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network at info@oregonfarmtoschool.org or watch for announcements on the Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network list.
Environmental Education Association of Oregon Environmental Education Conference
We are eager to bring you an opportunity to connect with others in the environmental and outdoor education field in a safe and fun manner. We are aware that social gatherings are not safe at this time and acknowledge that this may still be the case come July 30-Aug 1 2021. Keeping that in mind we are working to organize a hybrid conference with the majority of sessions offered online and some in-person field trips and workshops at Southern Oregon University (SOU) in Ashland, OR. We will be prepared to switch to an all-virtual conference if conditions warrant the change. http://www.eeao.org/index.php/2021-conference
National Children and Youth Gardening Symposium
The American Horticultural Society hosts an annual conference where you can network with like-minded teachers, garden designers, community leaders, program coordinators, and others involved with connecting kids to the natural world. The 2021 conference will be held virtually July 7-9
https://ahsgardening.org/gardening-programs/youth-gardening/ncygs/
Farm to Cafeteria Conference
The National Farm to School Network produces a “Farm to Cafeteria” Conference in alternate years. More information on the 2021 conference which will be held in April can be found at: http://www.farmtoschool.org/Default.aspx?PageID=11639227&A=SearchResult&SearchID=11096351&ObjectID=11639227&ObjectType=1
School Garden Support Organization (SGSO) Leadership Institute
Every year, the School Garden Support Organization Leadership Institute provides an opportunity for school garden professionals from across the country to collaborate, learn from one another, and develop resources to share with a national audience. In this way, we all become able to better support school gardens in our regions, and also advance to the national school garden movement. To be held virtually Spring 2021
https://www.sgsonetwork.org/gatherings/ | https://lifelab.org/sgso/
School Garden Support Organization (SGSO) National School Garden Conference
The Growing School Gardens Summit will invigorate the school garden movement and improve regional school garden programming by connecting School Garden Leaders to inspire one another and share best practices, resources, and ideas. April 2022, Denver CO