Module 1: GTS Growing Cycle Overview

 Learning Goals

Authors

• Carol Smathers, Associate Professor, Field Specialist, Ohio Farm to School Director, and Project Principal Investigator, Ohio State University Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences
• Tim McDermott, Assistant Professor, Extension Educator and Project Co-Investigator, Ohio State University Extension, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Franklin County, Ohio
• Haley Scott, Farm to School Program Assistant, Ohio State University Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences
• Jamie Rickle, Farm to School Program Coordinator, Ohio State University Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences
• Christine Weatherholtz, Farm to School/Nutrition Coordinator K-12, Columbus City Schools
• Katie Young, Farm to School/Nutrition Coordinator K-12, Columbus City Schools
• Cynthia Walters, Assistant Designer, Green Schoolyards Coordinator Green Umbrella
• Kathryn Killeen, MPH Graduate Student, The Ohio State University College of Public Health
• Lauren Preston, Farm to School Intern, The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

Reviewers

We would like to thank the teachers and students of Columbus City Schools who pilot tested this curriculum during the 2022-2023 academic calendar.

Production

• Jess Wallace, Designer, Ohio State University Extension Publishing
• Rebecca Zimmer, Designer, Ohio State University Extension Publishing
• Scott Hummel, Editor, Ohio State University Extension Publishing

Acknowledgments

The overall goal of Growing Teachers Throughout the Seasons (GTS) is to increase the number of K–14 educational professionals who teach STEM-based agricultural production techniques and workforce skills throughout the traditional school year by using the GTS curriculum.

The “seeds” for the GTS curriculum were planted just before the pandemic of 2020. The “soil” in which the project was rooted took on a different form from what we had expected, but in the end, the result was a fuller harvest of ideas and approaches for supporting school garden teachers and actively engaging students and their families.

Thanks go to Columbus City Schools for piloting and reviewing this school-year growing curriculum, and to ScottsMiracle-Gro for providing materials for many of the school district’s initial gardens. Tremendous thanks to the 46 CCS teachers and their students who implemented this GTS curriculum on a daily basis in their classrooms to provide real-world feedback to inform the contents of this guide. Additional thanks go to countless Ohio State University Extension colleagues for their input and encouragement.

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Published research suggests school gardening and experiential agricultural instruction increase interest in and awareness of food systems and agriculture-related careers. School garden activities can also promote healthy behaviors and improve students’ academic achievement.

The Growing Teachers Throughout the Seasons team developed a set of research activities to provide systematic feedback and input from the school garden teachers to ensure the GTS guide would be practical and relevant. The research was approved by the Ohio State University Institutional Review Board.

Phase 1—Focus Groups to Inform the Growing Teachers Throughout the Seasons Curriculum (2020E0348)

We interviewed and surveyed teachers in the Columbus City Schools district. As Ohio’s largest district, CCS is an urban public school district of approximately 44,898 students that has over 75 gardens involving over 100 classrooms (as of 2023). Thirty teachers who implemented school gardens provided initial feedback on the content and format of the academic calendar growing guide and associated teaching activities. Teachers indicated that certain experiential learning activities with supportive educational videos for school-year growing could effectively guide new and seasoned elementary and secondary teachers aiming to enhance students’ knowledge and interest in STEM-based urban agriculture techniques and careers.

The following discussion of the focus group findings was published in an article by Smathers and McDermott.

Smathers, C. A., & McDermott, T. (2023). Addressing urban food security through agriculture career awareness. Acta Horticulturae et Regiotecturae: The Scientific Journal for Horticulture, Landscape Engineering, Architecture and Ecology.

Consistent with school garden barriers reported in previous research, the barriers most frequently noted by focus group participants include a lack of leadership and administrative support, knowledge about agriculture and gardening techniques among teachers, curriculum integration support, garden maintenance support, time to manage the garden, and time to engage students in garden activities. When asked specifically about how garden leadership could be sustained amidst leadership turnover, many participants pointed to the need for clear, written guidance that could be readily passed on to individuals remaining at the school. Participants agreed that ongoing, hands-on training opportunities at the school level would promote sustainable garden-based learning.

The general GTS guidebook format and recommended growing strategies were viewed as effective. When shown the general growing schedule using three growing methods, participants agreed that it would be reasonable for teachers who are new to gardening to implement the recommended steps and teach students to grow and harvest foods throughout the school year. The only comments made about recommended growing strategies that would be too difficult or that teachers would avoid were related to growing hardy vegetables (spinach and kale) in raised beds with covers throughout December, January, and February. Participants expressed that such growing activities involve too much potential risk, discomfort, and or required effort.

Phase 2—Curriculum Pilot: Growing Teachers Throughout the Seasons (IRB#2022B0235)

Participants were recruited to participate in the Growing Teachers Throughout the Seasons curriculum pilot through email communication. After agreeing to participate in the pilot program, participants were provided with and introduced to the GTS curriculum materials to begin implementing it in their classrooms. Throughout the course of the school year, the instructors were sent nine surveys using the Qualtrics online platform (including one pre- and one post-assessment survey). Instructors participated in two in-person focus groups, one at the end of the first semester and one at the end of the second semester, during which they shared their answers verbally to multiple questions regarding the pilot program.

Variables of interest are as follows:

• instructors’ level of completion of monthly school garden growing tasks as outlined in the GTS curriculum
• hours of time required for implementation
• perceived strengths and weaknesses of GTS curriculum and related changes needed
• perceived benefits to the teaching experience

The results helped inform the final GTS content and resources provided to support instructors to implement garden/growing activities in their teaching across the school curriculum. For example, many of the pilot teachers reported that the broccoli would not mature enough to harvest by the end of the school year. Also, numerous teachers suggested adding collards as a food that is culturally relevant to many families in the school community. As a result, the May harvest has been changed to collard greens. Smathers, C. A., & McDermott, T. (2023). Addressing urban food security through agriculture career awareness. Acta Horticulturae et Regiotecturae: The Scientific Journal for Horticulture, Landscape Engineering, Architecture and Ecology.

Benefits of School Gardens

U.S. graduates with expertise in food, agriculture, natural resources, and the environment are anticipated to fill only 61% of the expected 57,900 average annual agriculture-related employment openings.¹ Research suggests that school gardening and other experiential agriculture instruction increase interest in and awareness of food systems and agriculture and related jobs and careers.^2-4 School garden activities have been shown to promote healthy behaviors^5-7 and improve students’ academic achievement in science, math, language arts, and writing.^8-14

Barriers to Incorporating Gardens Into Teaching

The USDA Farm to School Census results show increasing interest in farm-to-school activities nationwide, including a desire for installation of school gardens and growing facilities.³⁰ Common barriers to integrating and sustaining school gardens include time, staff, funding, curriculum, and space.^15-21 Specifically, teachers report lack of time to manage gardens, lack of continuity of maintenance, lack of continuity in leadership, issues implementing an innovative program into traditional classroom instruction, and the complexity of school systems as barriers to sustaining and integrating gardening in their teaching.²¹

GTS addresses time, knowledge, sustainability, and seasonality barriers in this school year growing guide and in online resources and video modules.