Because gardens can serve your school community in many ways, maintain focus as you plan your garden. Identifying key goals will help you make the best use of available resources, guide decisions around the type of garden you grow, influence how students engage in the garden, and affect who cares for the garden. Over time, your garden may expand to serve many purposes. However, as you get started, focus on one or two key goals for the space, such as:
To provide agriculture education to young adults
To help students meet the Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards
To operationalize your school’s wellness policy, contribute to student wholeness, and promote social-emotional learning
To teach nutrition and encourage healthy habits
To provide a living classroom for teachers across disciplines
To connect with your schools’ cafeteria, and promote food education
To provide a space for service learning or after-school activities
The following resources will help you identify the goals and format of your program:
School Garden Checklist from the USDA’s People’s Garden initiative
Whole Kids Foundation step-by-step guidance
Discussion questions from City Blossoms to guide garden planning
Guide for Creating School Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms from Ecoliteracy
Captions: Upper left, garden beds at Arlington Elementary | Lower left, garden pathway at Hamilton Elementary | Right, garden and outdoor classroom at Park Heights Academy.
Goals of these gardens include: engaging students in STEAM education, providing outdoor learning opportunities to lower-elementary students, and creating hands-on learning opportunities for special needs students.