Date:

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Place:

Paul R. Baird Middle School, Ludlow, MA

Time:

9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Brochure:

Printable Full brochure or workshops & registration form

Fee:

$50

Flyer:

Two-Page Winter Conference Flyer - PDF Version

Registration form:

A limited number of Registration Scholarships are available to support new teachers, urban teachers and farm-based educators who would not other wise be able to pay the registration fee. We thank the Northeast Farm Credit AgEnhancement Program for providing the funding for these scholarships through a grant. View the Scholarship Form.

Workshop 1: Wildlife in the Schoolyard

With every season, the schoolyard provides wonderful opportunities for you and your students to explore, discover, and learn about the diversity of local wildlife. Embrace the idea that if you plant a garden that wildlife will follow. Join Pam Landry, MassWildlife's Education Coordinator, for an overview of local wildlife: essential elements of habitat, natural history, identifying animal sign, what to do with uninvited visitors and the impact of human actions on wildlife habitat. We'll spend some time outside using our ‘eagle eyes’ to hone our observation skills. Participants will receive copies of MassWildlife publications and be introduced to additional relevant resources & trainings.

Instructor: Pam Landry, Education Coordinator, MassWildlife and Project Wild Coordinator

Workshop 2: Starting a School Garden

Experienced school garden educators will discuss how they developed their school garden programs. Learn how they engaged teachers, parents, students and the greater community to achieve success. They'll offer an overview of building the garden, and locating materials on a budget: such as supplies, soil amendments, seeds and plants. Additional topics will include curriculum connections; creating infrastructure and mechanisms for sustaining the garden. Participants are encouraged to bring questions with them. Target range: Pre-K through HS.

Workshop presenters: Christine Ellersick, Education Director from City Sprouts, Cambridge & Susan Hayward and Heather Holgate from the Holden Christian Academy

Workshop 3: Making Cheese in the Classroom

Dairy Farmers, Marjorie Cooper and nephew James from Coopers' Hilltop Dairy Farm in Rochdale will offer an overview of the dairy industry in Massachusetts today. Learn about the life cycle of the cow, milking, milk products, pricing and direct marketing. The making of soft cheese like the Quesco Blanco which will be ready for lunch today is a simple process that can be easily adapted to the classroom. Hard cheese ( cheddar, gouda) requires more effort, more ingredients and more time. Hard cheese preserves milk for future consumption. Feeding our cows through winter month requires preserving. We will discuss planting, growing, harvesting and storing grass and corn and how the grass and corn that we grow relates to the grains that we purchase from the Midwest. Appropriate for elementary and middle school.

Instructors: Marjorie and James Cooper, Coopers' Hilltop Dairy Farm, Rochdale, MA

THIS WORKSHOP IS UNAVAILABLE

Workshop 4: Keeping Rabbits in the Classroom

Rabbits are a great choice for those wishing to keep an animal in the classroom. They are small, quiet, easy to feed and keep clean and are adept at multiplication. Topics will include: Health and safety issues, classroom management, housing and equipment, and suggested science related projects. Time permitting participants will also help to build a small, all wire, cage suitable for the classroom.

Instructor: Russ Anderson teaches Environmental Science and Technology at Worcester Technical High School. He has many years experience raising rabbits and has a small farm in Leicester Mass. He has taught other workshops for MAC including: Keeping Quail in the Classroom, Building a small chicken coop from Pallets and Henry David Thoreau's Walking Stick.

THIS WORKSHOP IS UNAVAILABLE

Workshop 5: The Life of A Christmas Tree

Dzen Tree Farm, Inc. in South Windsor, is a nationally recognized operation that has been growing Christmas Trees since the early 1980’s. Attend this workshop and learn from a fourth generation farmer, Dan Dzen, how the methods practiced in this million dollar Connecticut industry can be applied to math, science and environmental classes. Special emphasis on the history of Christmas trees, varieties, and everything that goes into getting this natural product from the field to your home. Appropriate for elementary through high school, this festive topic lends itself to classrooms of all ages.

Instructor: Dan Dzen, Dzen Tree Farm, Inc., South Windsor, CT

Workshop 6: Historical Education and Agricultural Education Opportunities at the Big E

Presenters at this session will exam the two main educational exhibits on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition fall tradition, The Big E, New England's Agricultural Fair.Donna Woolam and Dennis Picard from the Big E will discuss The Storrowton Village Museum and the agricultural venues of the The Big E. See how this great fall event can fit your curriculum. Attendees will receive material and resource packets that will allow class enrichment on site and at school. www.thebige.com. Suitable for Grades 3-6.

Instructor: Donna Woolam &Dennis Picard, The Big E and Storrowtown Village Museum, West Springfield, MA

Workshop 7: Growing your Pre-K students’ nature brain the Hidden Hollow way!

Educators in Hidden Hollow™, an outdoor discovery space at Heritage Museums & Gardens, have spent the last two years designing outdoor experiences and curriculum to engage children, school groups and families in authentic STEM experiences. Join us to find out about this example of a unique outdoor discovery space that follows the Nature Explore model and learn about ways you can replicate effective elements in your own outdoor spaces.
This session is directly structured to focus on the unique needs of Pre-K learners and the innate value of play and learning in a natural space. Participants will leave with some research data on the need for –– and benefits of - connecting children to nature and gardens, samples of best practice activities, and ideas to implement the next day! If you are interested in getting your preschoolers outside to learn in nature while growing their STEM brains, this session is for you! Target Grades Pre-K through K.

Instructor: Tobey Eugenio, Environmental Educator, Hidden Hollow at Heritage Museum and Gardens in Sandwich, MA

THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW FULL!

Workshop 8: From Carrots to Conifers: Teaching Kids through the Wonder of Plants

Participants will be guided through interactive activities focused on plant propagation, the origins of our food, and facilitating self-guided journeys through a natural ecosystem. Jamie Samowitz, Youth Education Coordinator for the Berkshire Botanical Garden will offer hands-on activities with hand-outs of lesson plans will be provided. Curriculum is targeted to elementary and middle school, but the activities are adaptable for a range of grade levels. Registration limit of 15 participants

Instructor: Jamie Samowitz, Youth Education Coordinator for the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, MA

THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW FULL!

Workshop 9: Cooking Matters in Your Community

Learn how to incorporate a variety of new kid-friendly and budget-friendly recipes and activities into your classroom. Gina Petracca, from “Cooking Matters®” will offer an introduction to her organizations materials and programs with an overview of how to use the materials. She will then offer a food demonstrations with accompanying food & nutrition activities. Appropriate for all grades.
Instructor: Gina Petracca, Educational Outreach Coordinator, Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters®

Workshop 1: Go Botany: 21st-century tools for teaching and learning about plants

Go Botany is a user-friendly, interactive, free, online guide to the New England flora developed for ages 8-80. Go Botany is being used throughout New England and beyond by environmental educators, middle-and high-school teachers, and university professors to introduce students to the wonderful world of botany. It engages students using new, user-friendly technology to encourage curiosity, close observation, and cooperation in identifying and learning about plants. Collaborating with the Montshire Museum, Yale-Peabody Museum, and Chewonki Foundation, New England Wild Flower Society developed Go Botany to specifically address science frameworks and appeal to very broad audiences. Enjoy test-driving this NSF-funded project from the New England Wild Flower Society and partners, great for use in informal and formal science education settings. Bring a laptop or tablet and we’ll provide a plant for you to identify!

Instructor: Elizabeth Farnsworth, Senior Research Ecologist, New England Wild Flower Society, Framingham, MA

Workshop 2: Gardening with Grow-Lights

Plan to add a grow light to start your vegetable seedlings and enhance your science program. In this step-by step workshop, Tony Ghelfi, 3rd grade teacher at the Manthela George School in Brockton will demonstrate how to build and set-up a classroom light unit from inexpensive materials. Then Marian Hazzard, garden educator from the Touchstone Community School in Grafton will show you how to start seedlings for the school garden. She will also provide ideas for teaching science in the classroom using the light unit.

Instructors: Tony Ghelfi, Manthela George School in Brockton, MA and Marian Hazzard, Touchstone Community School in Grafton, MA

Workshop 3: Budgeting and Financial Management

Whether managing a school garden or after school club or teaching students basic financial skills, it is important to understand the fundamentals. Myra Marcellin from Farm Credit East will offer a basic overview of the importance of budgeting and good financial management. Participants will gain a basic understanding for what a budget is, how to create and manage a budget as well as gain insights on proper tracking of expenses, and reconciling the checkbook. In addition, they will learn about balance sheets, income and expense statements and how these are used to understand the financial condition of individuals and businesses and how they affect decisions to borrow and/or receive grant funding. Appropriate for all grades.

Instructor: Myra Marcellin, Senior Loan Officer, Farm Credit East, ACA.

Workshop 4: Incorporating Miniature Horses into Your Curriculum, It Works!

Students will learn to identify harness parts, and parts of the horse and carriage. Cynthia Chotkowski from E. O. Smith High School will bring a “life size” model of the miniature horse to allow participants to see how to use horses in the classroom for anatomy, physiology, parts and muscle labs. Students can learn to braid (this is a career for many), and there will also be a unit on animal behavior and clicker training. In addition there will be activities that explain the use of pvc pipe and hula hoops for obstacle courses. This teaches students animal behavior observation skills as well as dexterity and coordination skills. Miniature horses are very adaptable at being used in special needs settings both on the ground and driving as well as going to senior centers and other educational venues. Several other topics will be covered such as horse handling skills, bandaging and first aid. Participants will take activity sheets and contact information. Appropriate for all grades.

Instructor: Cynthia Chotkowski, Edwin O Smith High School, Mansfield CT.

Workshop 5: Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity in School

Childhood obesity is an epidemic across the nation. In schools across the state, school nurses are working to encourage and engage youth to consume nutrient-rich foods (low-fat and fat-free dairy foods, fruits, vegetables and whole grains) and achieve at least sixty minutes of physical activity every day. School nurses Susan Prindall, Susan Thomas and Heather Blake will present an overview of obesity and discuss how they have promoted healthy eating and physical activity through education, incentives and fun activities in their schools, schoolyards and school gardens. They will also review the new school nutrition laws as they relate to curriculum based celebrations, rewards in the classroom and meals on field trips. Appropriate for all grades.

Instructor: School nurses: Susan Prindall, Johnson Middle School in Walpole, MA; Susan Thomas, Mountain View Elementary School in East Longmeadow, MA and Heather Blake, Mary Lee Burbank School in Belmont, MA

Workshop 6: Classroom Hydroponics: A Great Way to GrowHydroponics is an exciting way to demonstrate an alternative viable form of farming to your students. Using some easy-to-find and inexpensive materials you and your students will literally be able to enjoy the fruits (and leaves!) of your labor. Kate Bars, Connecticut’s 2012 State Science Agricultural Teacher of the Year from the Pomfret Community School will provide an overview of t the basics of hydroponics, discuss how it can be applied in the classroom, and show you how to make a “mini- hydro planter” to take back to your class! Suitable for grades K-6.

Instructor: Kate Bars, Pomfret Community School, Pomfret, CT

Workshop 7: Meeting the STEM requirements with outdoor discovery at your elementary school!

With the focus on Common Core Standards, STEM initiatives, and 21st century learning skills, all schools are looking for new ways to engage their elementary students in authentic learning. Nature offers a versatile learning space that innately allows students to build schema and make connections while layering and integrating learning. Whether you are gardening, going on a “book walk,” writing nature-inspired poetry, constructing a simple machine, or just plain exploring, research clearly states that your students will be more successful if they have opportunities to learn in a natural setting.
During this session, participants will get a sneak peak at Hidden Hollow™, an effective outdoor discovery space at Heritage Museums & Gardens, and learn about how they might replicate elements of this successful national model at their own sites. Participants will also gather ideas and tools to help address Common Core Standards in their outdoor spaces at their school. This session is for you if you are interested in enhancing your students’ success by engaging them in outdoor learning!

Instructor: Tobey Eugenio, Environmental Educator, Hidden Hollow at Heritage Museum and Gardens in Sandwich, MA

Workshop 8: Soil Exploration in the Classroom

An understanding of the importance and nature of soil is essential for agriculture, growing healthy plants and for conservation and environmental education. Ken Oles, Master Gardener and retired 5th Grade Teacher, will offer a sampling of fun and easy hands-on activities to teach how to identify and describe soils characteristics such as texture, color, drainage and parent material. Appropriate for elementary and middle school. Topics will include soil layers(horizons), soil components, physical properties, improving soil structure, and soil pH.

Instructor: Ken Oles, Master Gardener and retired 5th Grade Teacher

Workshop 1: Maple Sugaring Workshop

Late winter is the time to get outdoors, explore the local landscape and woodland, and find the perfect Sugar Maple tree to tap with your students. As you boil the sap into syrup, students can study the history of maple sugaring, draw and chart the boiling process, sing songs, write stories and generally immerse themselves in the maple season. Farm Educator Doug Cook, from Land's Sake in Weston will bring equipment and activity ideas offering ideas and answering questions to take you through the maple season. Targeted for elementary to middle school.

Instructor: Doug Cook, Farm Education Coordinator at Land's End in Weston

Workshop 2: Choosing the Plants for the School Garden

Now that you have decided to develop a school garden, what are the best plants to choose to get started? Are there particular plants or lessons that really engage and inspire students, and which plants are the easiest to grow? Experience school garden educator and small farmer Alice Posner will join with Lisa DePiano, permaculture educator and school garden consultant to provide a planting chart and lead you step-by-step through the crops, making suggestions that will accommodate different garden sizes, seasons, soil and light conditions and summer maintenance schedules.

Instructors: Alice Posner, school garden educator and MAC’s Program Associate and Lisa DePiano, Permaculture educator and school garden consultant

Workshop 3: School Greenhouse Basics

The school greenhouse provides terrific educational opportunities and a chance to get a jump on the garden season, but it also brings unique challenges and problems. In this workshops, Jen Werner, horticultural instructor at Springfield Technical Community College will offer an overview of greenhouse management, providing some insights and the scientific background that will ensure success and satisfaction. She will review seasonal planning and provide ideas for projects. Then take advantage of the questions and answer session to raise your specific concerns.

Instructor: Jennifer Werner, Professor at Springfield Technical Community College, Springfield, MA

Workshop 4: You Are What You Eat!

In this workshop participants will learn how to help their student’s look at their diet and evaluate their nutrition. Instructors Mike and Megan Grogan from Autumn Oak Farms will look at the “Locavore” theme to ask students the questions; do you know what you are eating? And where does it come from? This activity asks students to list everything they would eat in a typical day. They would then find nutrition facts for the foods they eat. They would then substitute the food they eat for local farm fresh healthy alternatives. Students would then determine where they could locally acquire the new menu. Students will investigate the distance food travels, food quality, and nutritional value. Key words to discuss will be calories, carbon footprint, lovavore, and nutrients. This lesson is designed to give students an understanding and appreciation of the nutritional items they are consuming as well as interpreting food labels and supporting the local agricultural community.

Instructors: Mike and Megan Grogan, Autumn Oak Farms, Tolland, CT

Workshop 5: Wool Science 101

Wool is an incredible, natural fiber! It has some very unique characteristics due to its protein structure and chemical properties. During this workshop, Ally Hunter, Instructor at Worcester Polytechnical Institute will provide background on the science of wool, explore and demonstrate the unique attributes of wool, and include a hands-on felting activity. Target grades: middle through high school.

Instructor: Ally Hunter, Science Teacher at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA

Recipes from the School GardeBring the school garden full cycle from planting to harvest and food preparation with your students. Several experienced school garden educators will share their favorite recipes and tips for preparing the food in the classroom. Sample some of their easy and tasty recipes such as baked beans, corn cakes, kale chips, pesto, beet cupcakes and dried vegetables and herbs. Learn what to plant, when to harvest and how to incorporate the food preparation and meal into the curriculum. Bring your questions and your own favorite recipes to share with others.

School garden chefs: Bill Cassell, 3rd grade teacher from the L.D. Batchelder School in North Reading; Susan Halpin, Applied Arts Teacher from Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough; Tara Laidlaw from South Shore YMCA in Sandwich and Jane Lucia from Williston Northampton Middle School

Workshop 7: Got Goats?

Come and learn about the variety of goats and what they produce. Learn fun games that will teach your students about goat anatomy, feed, and so much more. These games have proven their worth at both the New London County and the Windham-Tolland County 4-H camps. Taught by Abby Smith from Lebanon, CT a college aged 4-H youth, who has been in 4-H, with goats as her project, for 10 years. Join her as she shows you how to make goats fun and educational.

Instructor: Abby Smith, Cedars of Lebanon Farm Lebanon, CT

Workshop 8: Composting Activities Across the Curriculum

Composting offers a terrific way to naturally return nutrients to their soil, to keep it structurally and chemically friendly for plant growth, and to promote water conservation. Learn the basics of composting including how to get started, construct the compost pile, balance nitrogen and carbon materials, and reach optimum moisture and temperature in the bin. Meet the compost organisms such as red wigglers, mold and bacteria. You will also learn how composting is a great way to teach about lifecycles, ecosystems, soil processes, and conservation. Appropriate for elementary and middle school.

Instructors: DEP Home Composter Karen Kullas, Berkley and Teresa Strong, Science Specialist, Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Charlestown and our Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom 2011 Teacher of the Year.

THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW FULL!

Workshop 1: Bringing the Outdoors into the Classroom

When the frosty evenings of fall kill off all but the hardiest of vegetables in the garden and the trees shed their glorious cloak of autumn foliage, it needn’t be the end of horticultural pursuits. Landscape horticulturist Warren Leach from Tranquil Lake Nursery in Rehoboth will offer up a variety of activities that you can bring into your classroom from the school yard and woodlands. Try forcing branches and bulbs, keying out winter buds, preserving autumn leaves, collecting and saving seeds, propagating plants from cuttings and divisions; building terrariums and more. He will offer instructions for each and tips for success.

Instructor: Warren Leach, landscape horticulturist and co-owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery, Rehoboth, MA

THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW FULL!

Workshop 2: Sharing Successes in the School Garden

During this workshop several experienced school garden educators will share their successes in integrating the school garden into the classroom, curriculum and school community. Learn from their stories and examples of garden activities, lesson plans, adaptation for their grade level and strategies for aligning garden lessons with the Curriculum Frameworks and Standards. Bring your questions and learn from the experience of others.

Workshop Facilitator: Molly Faulkner, MAC Garden Mentor and school garden advisor to the Wayland Schools; Christine Bates, after-school garden coordinator at Montague Elementary School; Kira Jewett, Hampshire Regional High School, Easthampton; Amy Lopata, Dr. Elmer S. Bagnell School, Groveland, and Carol Mentos, North Middle School in Westfield

Workshop 3: Biotechnology: Cloning with Jell-O!! Tera Harlow from Rockville High School, will teach about animal selection and discuss the process to successfully feed a growing world population. She will talk about vocabulary related to cloning. Participants will also do a hands-on activity to mimic the process used in laboratories to manipulate cells using Jell-O!!! Participants will leave with a list of materials to recreate the activity and how to adapt the activity for lower grade levels or special education students. Appropriate for all grades.

Instructor: Tera Harlow, Rockville High School, Vernon, CT

Workshop 4: Introduction to Plant Classification

Michael LaMontagne, horticulture teacher at Franklin County Technical High School in Turner’s Falls will offer an introduction to plant classifications. Learn how to use a simple key, an acronym and your senses including smell, touch, sight, sound and sometimes taste to introducing students to plant identification. Weather permitting, we will identify some of the plants on the school grounds. Appropriate for middle and high school educators.

Instructor: Michael LaMontagne, horticulture teacher, Franklin County Technical HS, Turner’s Falls, MA

Workshop 5: Embryology in the Classroom

Incubation of eggs in the classroom provides many cross curricular opportunities for teaching reading, writing, math, science and much more. It can also be a challenge for those who have not tried it before. Jessica Ouimet hatches eggs with her fifth grade students at the Coburn Elementary School in West Springfield. She will unravel the mystery, showing you how to set up the incubator, put in the eggs and turn the eggs for successful hatching. She will also present an overview of embryo development, life cycles and brooding of newly hatched chicks and share activities used in her classroom as she teaches this unit. Content is geared towards the elementary and middle grades.

Instructor: Jessica Ouimet, teaches fifth grade at the Coburn Elementary School in West Springfield and raises chickens and other fowl on her farm in Russell, MA. She is also the Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom's 2012 Teacher of the Year.

Workshop 6: The ABC's of Rescuing the Teacher's Pet Are your students interested in helping animals? Do you want your students to understand basic first aid techniques as well as the ABC’s of CPR? Learn with Jen Cushman of Glastonbury High School about this engaging way to fulfill these goals through Pet First Aid and CPR. Participants will be provided with a hands-on opportunity to learn proper Pet First Aid and CPR techniques while practicing on animal mannequins. Participants will be provided with a list of the necessary resources to train their own students about Pet First Aid and CPR. Opportunities will be discussed about how this content can be integrated into the K-12 classroom and how this information can be incorporated into the Science and/or Health curriculum to create an interdisciplinary lesson.

Instructor: Jen Cushman, Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury, CT

THIS WORKSHOP IS UNAVAILABLE

Workshop 7: How Farm-Based Education Can Support and Energize Classroom Learning

This workshop will help you to make classroom connections from the farm. Meg Taylor from The Farm Education Collaborative will offer a number of farm-based hands-on activities that you can try out and then use with your students in the classroom. Learn how she uses these activities to support classroom education and to engage students interest. Target Grade: Pre-K through Grade 6.
Instructor: Meg Taylor, The Farm Education Collaborative, Williamsburg, MA

THIS WORKSHOP IS UNAVAILABLE

Workshop 8: Young Farmers View Current Agriculture

A panel of four members of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers will discuss their chosen careers and the careers of young farmers they have met who live in “farm states” outside of New England. They will consider the huge challenge of feeding everyone while protecting the environment. There will be references to The Omnivore’s Dilemma and other writings by Michael Pollan.

Facilitator: Young Farmer Jamie Cruz and a panel of Massachusetts Young Farmers.