🪴 Gardening
🪴 Gardening
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Classroom Garden Parent volunteers lead gardening lessons that connect children to a wide range of subjects, including soil health, plant and insect biology, and even Earth and space science—exploring how the motions of Earth and our local geography drive weather and climate patterns. Through this work, we aim to inspire the next generation of ecological stewards.
The lessons often complement our cooking classrooms by providing fresh ingredients grown by the students themselves and provide students with opportunities to practice math and writing in a hands-on setting.Â
Comparing traits of herbs & leafy greens
About the Garden
About the Garden
The Stevenson garden consists of 18 raised bed teaching planters. We are currently developing additional school-wide beds, including a native wildflower/pollinator bed, a sensory garden bed, and a culinary herb bed to support the school cooking program.
The garden is the heart of the school, surrounded by the classroom buildings. The garden contributes to a positive school atmosphere, providing teachers, staff, and over 450 students with a daily connection to nature as they move between classrooms.
Each fall, parents, staff, and children return to a welcoming garden—proudly maintained over the summer by volunteers—teeming with flowers, herbs, brassicas, beans, corn, and squash. Between October and May, garden lessons take place daily, with every classroom receiving four to eight lessons per year.Â
Pumpkin for annual school contest
Parent Volunteers
Parent Volunteers
Parent volunteers make our garden program possible. Classroom Garden Parents lead 4-8 outdoor lessons per year for their child’s class, pulling from curated PACT lesson plans or designing their own.
PACT Garden Committee members work throughout the year to maintain the garden, develop curriculum, and host school-wide events such as the holiday garden and pumpkin contest.
Biannual garden workdays invite the greater Stevenson community to join in readying our garden beds for planting.
Kindergarten number pair practice
Volunteer Expectations
Volunteer Expectations
Lead 4-8 outdoor lessons for their child’s class per year using self-designed lesson plans or PACT lesson plans already curated by grade & topic. The garden leads are here to support you!Â
Attend garden workdays (2 per year, scheduled during the weekend)Â
Attend training and planning meetings (usually 2-3 per year in the evening)
Participate on one subcommittee to help with garden maintenance, events, admin, etc.Â
Classroom parents need availability during school hours (3-6 hours per lesson, i.e. month), while committee-only volunteers need after school/weekend availability; events-oriented volunteers are not required to work in the garden.
Being a Classroom Gardening Parent fulfills all PACT volunteering expectations. Classroom Gardening Parents are not required to take on any additional classroom or committee roles.
A volunteer badge from MVWSD may or may not be required, depending on how your classroom schedules lessons
Monarch feeding on narrow leaf
milkweed outside 5th grade classroom
Questions?
Questions?
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