CHARACTERISTICS OF SCHOOL GARDENS ON HAWAII ISLAND: Summary of the Pacific Resources for Education and Learning School Garden Survey By Nancy Redfeather, The Kohala Center In May-June 2011, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) surveyed Hawaii Island Schools to gather benchmark data on existing school gardens and the role they play in education, wellness, and skills development. The survey also evaluated how school gardens are managed, funded, and maintained throughout the academic year and during the summer months. The following is a summary of the findings. Questions posed in the survey are presented in italics. Where do Hawaii Island school gardens grow? The Hawaii Island School Garden Network has identified 59 school gardens at public, private, and charter K-12 schools on the island that currently support school garden programs on their campuses. These school gardens are located in every district of the island. Some programs are still in the visioning stage and a few of them are more than ten years old. A total of 33 schools answered the 34 survey questions presented to them in May 2011. Most respondents (73%) were garden staff or classroom teachers responsible for garden activities. How would you describe your school garden? How old is your garden? What systems are in use in the garden? How many square feet of garden space are cultivated? Most school gardens are described as consisting of raised beds (66%), in-ground plantings (81%), and/or potted plants (60%). These gardens grow fruits and vegetables (97%), herbs and spices (94%), and flowers and ornamentals (81%). Gardens had been operating fewer than 7 years (73%), operating less than 3 years (33%), and more than 7 years (18%). Gardens reflect the needs and interests of the school faculty and students. 27% of schools use an aquaponics system, 18% use a hydroponics system, 27% incorporate animals into the garden, 58% have worm boxes, and 100% of the schools are working with composting systems. The number of square feet of garden space cultivated ranges from 25 square feet to over 2 acres: 25-500 square feet (30%) 500-5,000 square feet (40%) over 5,000 square feet (30%) The total amount of school garden cultivated space was 295,741 square feet or 6.8 acres. Gardens serving educational and nutritional needs What is the overall purpose of your garden? Which focus areas are most important? What type of curriculum do you use? Did you weigh the food grown in the garden and if so, how many pounds of food were produced by the garden last year? The purpose of the gardens also varies from school to school. Respondents thought the following were very important purposes for their garden: Environmental awareness (91%)
Sustainability education (90.6%) Social skills (79%) Food literacy (77%) Academic improvement (65%) Promoting cultural traditions (65%) Green schoolyard (52%) Health promotion (50%) Career education (27%) Food production for profit (25%) Landscaping knowledge (15%) The most important focus areas for garden activities were: Health or nutrition (76%) Agriculture/horticulture (67%) Environmental studies (66%) Science (63%) Service learning (45%) Language arts (33%) Mathematics (31%) Special education (27 %) Social studies (26%) Physical education (25%) The type of curriculum used in Hawaii Island school garden programs ranged from no specific curriculum (24%), to curriculum developed by the teacher (79%), to curriculum adapted from many sources (46%), to a formal curriculum (27%). Schools were split on the weighing of produce, herbs, and fruits grown in the school garden last year. 49% weighed food grown, and 51% did not. Of those schools who did weigh their food production, most schools produced 200 pounds a year, though some produced much more than this. The 16 schools that weighed their harvest produced a total of 14,759 pounds, or 7.4 tons, of food last year. Uses for food produced What is done with the food produced in the gardens? Students by and large are eating most of the food produced in the school gardens that were surveyed. 47% of all respondents said that 75% of the food produced was eaten by the students. 65% said that about 25% of the food goes home to student families, faculty and staff, or is given to the community. 93% said that very little is given to the school cafeteria, and 18% said that about 50% is sold. Student engagement What grade levels are involved? How many students are involved? How many hours per week is the garden used? The greatest number of students involved in gardening programs was in grades K-5 (60%), followed by grades 6-8 (47%), and then by grades 9-12 ((35%). 2
Out of 33 schools responding, a total of 3,002 students were involved in gardening classes in 2010-2011. Most gardens served students in grade levels K-8 (60%), while fewer than half served high school students (42%). Most gardens are used during school hours (80%), over half of all gardens are used after school (56%) and during the summer (54%), and many gardens are also being used during recess (44%). The following is a breakdown of the number of hours per week that these 33 gardens are used for student learning: more than 10 hours a week during class time (31%), about 2 hours per week during recess (44%), about 2 hours per week after school (56%), and about 4 hours per week during summer (54%). Community involvement and garden maintenance How many regular volunteers assist your program? What are the factors in maintaining and creating a sustainable school garden? Parents and community volunteers who regularly assist with the garden program number between one and two at 33% of the schools, three to five at 19% of the schools, six to ten at 18% of the schools, and over ten regular volunteers at only one school. One third (33%) of the schools had no volunteers. The most important factors for maintaining a quality school garden were: funding for the garden (82%), administrative support (82%), funding for a garden educator position (73%), and support from the community (64%). Faculty who know how to garden was somewhat important (33%). Staff in the garden: maintenance and educational programs How many paid staff work in the school garden? Who are they? How many hours do they work per week? Who teaches the lessons in the garden? Gardens are staffed by garden educators, classroom teachers, and sometimes by volunteers. About one half of the gardens had at least one paid staff member who is responsible for the garden program (51%). The other half (49%) of the gardens were staffed by a classroom teacher. 79% of the schools did have a garden educator or classroom teacher in charge of the garden. 18% of the schools reporting had no specific teacher or garden educator in charge. Nearly three fourths of the schools surveyed reported that other individuals and groups also helped with garden maintenance and programs. These other sources of support included: Volunteers (73%) Students (73%) Classroom teachers (70%) Custodians (18%) Interns (12%) 56% of garden educators worked more than 10 hours a week. 21% of garden educators worked from 2 to 8 hours per week. 25% of class teachers reporting worked more than 10 hours per week, and 36% worked from 2-8 hours per week. 18% of volunteers worked more than 10 hours per week, and 42% worked between 2-8 hours per week. 3
Classroom teachers working with garden educators Does the Homeroom Teacher accompany the students to the garden? Do Class Teaches who come then lead a small group activity? Are Homeroom Teachers comfortable with this task? The homeroom teacher assisted the garden educator in 45% of the programs and did not stay for the lesson in 56% of the programs. Those homeroom teachers who did come to garden class with their students appeared to be comfortable with the task: 44% of the teachers said they were comfortable assisting in the garden (almost exactly the same percentage of teachers who accompanied their students to the garden). What do Class Teachers need to effectively work with a school garden program? The final question in this section elicited a wide array of answers. The following are some of the suggestions respondents provided: Class teachers and garden educators need to work together to identify each classroom s curriculum needs and then build a program that is integrated. They need to understand that the outdoor classroom and hands-on education is an effective tool for student comprehension and learning. They need the tie-in to the core curriculum they are teaching in their classrooms. They need to know that the garden educator is part of the science/sustainability/green team of the school. Critical qualities and cost of programs/funding Which qualities are most critical to successfully running a garden program in a school setting? What is the annual cost of running your school garden program? Where do you receive your primary financial support? There are many qualities that teachers identified as critical to a successful school garden program. Among the top three were student ownership of the garden (94%), the student s safety and security in the garden (84%), and the student s interest and ability of stay focused and engaged (82%). The next four were a designated teacher to lead the gardening activity (78%), having adequate time for preparation (73%), having adequate time for instruction (72%), and Principal support (72%). These were followed by integration across core curriculum (66%), proper management of students (63%), and an adequate salary for the garden educator (59%). The annual cost for running a school garden program was quite varied, with some garden educators working for their schools as part-time teachers for 17 hours per week, and with others being paid for through grants and school fundraising, etc. Of the participating schools, 15 responded that they paid their garden educator between $3,600 and $50,000 depending on the hours worked and the school s level of commitment to the garden program. The average cost of a salary (without fringe benefits) for a half-time garden educator was about $23,000. The cost of supplies for a year s program ranged from $150 to $10,000, depending on the infrastructure being developed. The annual cost of supplies for a school garden program averaged between $2,000 and $3,000. Garden teachers were asked about the primary source of financial support for their school garden, in order to estimate the percent that each source contributes to the total amount of funding that the garden receives. Garden teachers agreed that very little funding was supplied by federal, state, or local government funds. 50% of the schools said that 25% of their funding came from private donors. 39% of the schools raised money from school garden fundraisers, 32% of the schools were 4
supported at 50% through private foundations, 43% of the schools received very little funding from their schools, and 25% received about 25% from their school budgets. Continuing education and assessment What information have you gathered about the students who are participating in the garden programs? What are your future plans to sustain your school s garden program? Teachers perceived improvement in student skills and behavior as follows: 85% of the teachers said that they saw improvement in students environmental awareness and attitudes; 67% observed an increase in student physical activity; 64% observed an increase in leadership skills, cultural awareness, self confidence, and social skills; 61% noticed improved student nutrition; and 45% noted improved community spirit, improved attitudes toward school, improved student-teacher relationships, and academic gains Teachers were upbeat when they spoke about future plans for their school gardens. These plans included garden expansion and building more infrastructure, involving community and parents to a greater degree, expanding the gardens to include native plants or a small orchard, working with the entire school staff to green the campus, working more closely with faculty and their needs, continuing to look for funding through grant writing and fundraisers, creating student farmer s markets, incorporating more garden time after school and during summers, creating community workshops on home production, creating more garden sales and contract service work, and generally expanding upon the programs that were already in place. Only one school said that continuing their garden program did not look hopeful at this time. Challenges and successes in the past year What were your greatest challenges and most satisfying successes last year? The main challenges for school garden programs last year were poor soil, not enough water, physical challenges of creating raised beds for gardening, having enough time with the students during garden class, vandalism, not enough volunteer help, lack of administrative support, insufficient teacher buyin, lack of funding for programs, no dedicated garden educator, not enough help with maintenance, classroom management outdoors, not enough staff help, not enough garden space, weather challenges too much rain or drought, and finding time to coordinate lessons with class teachers. In spite of these challenges, dedication and interest in school gardens remains strong throughout the County of Hawaii. Teachers were eager to talk about their successes during the year. Teachers often found that the students who have trouble in the classroom become the leaders in the garden! There were many stories of SPED [special education] students focusing on their work in new ways. Here are some of the comments teachers shared about their achievements during the past year: Cooking with the children and preparing healthy snacks is rewarding for everyone. Students are stepping up to take ownership of their gardens, suggesting new projects and talking about changing eating habits. The workdays with the Kaiser Permanente Doctors and Staff have been very inspiring for our community. 5
Students building gardens, growing and weighing food, thinking about the economic possibilities! Shy withdrawn students blossoming. Creating school-wide recycling programs led by the school garden. We are enjoying eating everything we grow. Instead of the students hording and hiding oranges from the tree, they began harvesting, slicing, and sharing them instead. Created a lunch salad bar! The students report that food sent home becomes part of the evening meal. Watching and being part of the cycles of life. Students creating gardens at home. Creating a video of our strawberry patch and our aquaponics system. Seeing the joy on the children s faces while they work. The custodian decided to volunteer! He helped us build a bean trellis and plant beans. Working with worms and doing real community work. We created new cooking stations. Now we can expand our nutrition lessons. Animals in the garden, what a blessing! Harvesting food for the first time Smell this carrot, it smells just like a carrot! HISGN assistance for 2011-2012 and closing thoughts How can the HISGN assist you with your school garden program in the coming year? Continue to offer support, information, and educational programs Assist with correlating garden based curriculum and core classroom curriculum Information and island-wide activities and events of interest to garden and agriculture teachers Need help with the expansion of a high school ag program Grant opportunities, volunteers, island resources for garden programs Funding! Measurement and assessment of student learning in the garden Continue offering professional development opportunities School garden teacher training course The idea of adopt a garden, a hui of volunteers and support for gardens Curriculum and garden lessons for class teachers Come and visit all the gardens! Garden teacher exchange program Networking opportunities Marketing and media around school gardens The Kohala Center is grateful to all the teachers who took time to answer these questions during the last week of school in May and early June 2011. Mahalo to the Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) for their insights and support in developing this survey, and to Hauoli Mau Loa Foundation s Hope for Kids Program that made this project possible. We will continue working together to improve student health and academic achievement, to reconnect our youth to nature, to build the future we envision for our children and grandchildren, and to foster stewardship of our beautiful Island of Hawaii. 6