STH Meeting - February 23, 2016

With snow in the forecast for today, it is hard to believe that the garden season is about to begin.  A few Seed to Harvest volunteers got together today to kick it off with a little planning.

Attendees: Krissy Fernandes, Cydney Hodder, Debbie Knapik

Topics of Discussion:

2016 Goals: Since the last two years focused a lot on larger projects, such as the greenhouse, the goal for this year is to maintain the existing gardens and work to further the Seed to Harvest activities.  We will develop grade-level activities, crafts, and curriculum centered around one plant per grade.  The plan is to have each grade plant something in the Spring that would mature and be ready to be picked in the fall when they move up to the next grade.  There will also be several general topics (lettuce, radishes, worms, mushrooms, etc) that any grade can take advantage of.

Resources Needed: In order to achieve this goal, we will need volunteers in the following areas:

• Grade-level planners (K-4 and ACCESS) - Volunteers work with grade level teachers to schedule planting and activities and get their input on how their garden can be best incorporated into the existing curriculum (math, circle time, writing topics, etc).  Grade-level planners don't have to develop all the content themselves.  The general curriculum resources and the rest of the group can be used to assist.  Multiple people can own a single grade.  The commitment is for one school year.  The 2016 commitment would be for the Spring only and will focus on the development of activities that can be repeated in future years.

• Grant Writer: Volunteer(s) to look for School Garden grant opportunities and write grant requests based on the current year's goals and utilizing previous grant requests.

• Garden Planner: Volunteer(s) to own creating a garden maintenance schedule (when do seedlings need to be planted, when do they need to be transplanted, how often does weeding have to occur, what soil amendment has to happen, etc).

• Volunteer Coordinator: Volunteer to recruit and coordinate volunteers for activities.  Room parents should be used as a resource to find help with Grade-level activities.

• General Curriculum Creators: Volunteers who would like to research topics, create work sheets, or plan activities.  This is a great opportunity to parents who are educators, have a passion for the outdoors, gardening or nutrition, and who would like to volunteer on their own time.

• Summer Activities: Volunteers to plan and host one or more of the Seed to Harvest summer activities.  Many of the programs can be repeated each year as we already have the supplies needed (i.e. Bike Wash).

Plant Plan: we discussed the types of plants that would work well at the grade level and for general purpose.

* Cydney has volunteered to take ownership of the Fungi.

The planting and harvest dates will be entered soon.

The next meeting will take place Wednesday, February 24 @ 7pm at Krissy's house.  Future meetings will be planned out over the next week for the remainder of the season.