Saturday, November 9, 2013

We are also grateful to the Whole Foods Markets in Jamaica Plain, Brighton, Cambridge (Prospect Street), Dedham, Fresh Pond, Medford & Newtonville for making a significant contribution to help underwrite the costs of this conference.

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources provided funding for four workshops through a USDA SPecialty Crops Grant.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, proud supporter of The Greening the Schools conference, is changing the way people think about and eat fast food by serving food made from ingredients sourced with respect for the land, the animals, and the farmers who produce the food.  Learn more at www.chipotle.com.

An understanding of the importance and nature of soil is essential for growing healthy plants, agriculture, and for conservation and environmental education. Robert Rafka, PhD. , scientist and educator, will offer an overview of soil properties such as type, texture, drainage, pH, color, and parent materials. You will learn how and why to test your soil, how to improve your soil and have a chance to try out some hands-on activities to assist with teaching about soils. Appropriate for middle and high school.

Instructor: Robert Rafka, retired scientist from Pfizer, master gardener and high school science teacher

The Saxonville Gardens in the courtyard behind the school cafeteria at Framingham High School include a ½ football field size vegetable garden, with focus crops producing 1,200 gallons of Tomato Sauce, 35 gallons of Pesto, 50 bushels of Brussel Sprouts, just to name a few. The garden was created thanks to the vision of Foodservice Director Brendan Ryan. Plants are grown using organic practices and with the aide of an irrigation systems. Learn how the this sustainable growing environment benefits the school community with locally grown and seasonally fresh foods. Appropriate for all grades.

Instructor: Brendan Ryan, Foodservice Director, Framingham School Department

During this workshop several experienced school garden leaders will offer stories of their success in the school garden. Each will provide examples of garden activities, lesson plans, adaptation for their grade level and community connections that they have successfully carried out in their school garden. They will also offer strategies for integrating the garden program into the classroom curriculum and materials that they believe would be helpful to school garden leaders. Bring your questions and learn from the experience of others. Target age range: Pre-K through middle school.

Facilitator: Molly Faulkner, MAC School Garden Mentor and panel of elementary and middle School Garden Educators

Caring about communities and the environment is one of Whole Foods Market’s core values. Lee Kane will provide a an overview of Zero Waste strategies used in stores to reduce, reuse and recycle as well as tips for bringing these programs to your school. Through their newest charitable organization, the Whole Kids Foundation, Whole Foods Market is helping to nourish kids and support schools across the country. Their Let’s Move Salad Bar to Schools grant program has already provided 1400 salad bars, and their newest Garden Grants Program has already funded 1000 school garden projects. Jennifer Licht and Kyle Marnane will offer a Power Point Presentation on these Whole Kids Foundation initiatives, while Mary Landale will present several activities based on school gardens and healthy eating to bring back to the classroom (geared towards K-5).

Instructors: Lee Kane, EcoCzar/Forager; Jennifer Licht and Kyle Marnane, Marketing Team Leaders & Community Liaisons for the Whole Foods Markets in Jamaica Plain and Dedham & Mary Landale, Culinary Demonstration Specialist, Whole Foods Market, Medford.

Workshop 1: Composting Activities Across the Curriculum People use compost to naturally return nutrients to their soil, to keep it structurally and chemically friendly for plant to grow in, and to promote water conservation. In this workshop, Science Specialist Teresa Strong from the Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Charlestown will show you how to manage both indoor and outdoor composting systems and how to use the product for your indoor and outdoor plants. You will learn how composting is a great way to teach about lifecycles, ecosystems, soil processes, and conservation. Appropriate for elementary and middle school.

Instructor: Teresa Strong, Science Specialist, Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Charlestown and our 2011 Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year

Continuing mounting evidence including rising temperatures, droughts and glacial melting backed by overwhelming scientific evidence recognizing climate change as the major environmental threat of our times. While scientists and politicians work to craft policy choices and adaptation responses based on projected changes, how do you prepare lessons for teaching about this important topic in the classroom. Dr. John Hayes teaches about weather and climate at Salem State University. He will offer an overview of the issue, discussing the areas of certainty and uncertainty, offering tips for engaging your students in the subject and empowering them to find positive and meaningful actions in which they can engage. Appropriate for middle and high school.

Instructor: Dr. John Hayes teaches upper – and lower division courses in weather and climate, meteorology and climate change at Salem State University

Allandale Farm is Boston's last working farm located in Jamaica Plain and Brookline. John Lee, Farm Director will offer a tour of the farm and describe programs and practices. The farm follows practices that meet the growing methods, following the National Organic Program, although they have chosen not to pursue federal certification. They rotate crops, amend the fields with organic fertilizers and their own compost and do not use herbicides or conventional fungicide. The farm offers Community Supported Agriculture Shares, a farm market featuring farm grown and other locally grown and artisan foods, a summer youth camp and there is even a school on the property. (THIS TOUR IS NOW FULL)

Instructor: John Lee, President of Allandale Farm and Past President of Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom

Good soil is essential to a healthy and productive garden. Healthy soils = healthy plants = healthy people. Join Heifer International’s Liz Joseph, Garden Educator, to learn how you can improve your soil fertility, and understand how doing so will decrease pests, weeds, and disease while increasing your yield of beautiful, flavorful, and nutrient dense vegetables, herbs, and fruits.  

Instructor: Liz Joseph, Garden Associate, Heifer Project International's Overlook Farm in Rutland

Instructor: Robert Rafka, retired scientist from Pfizer, master gardener and high school science teacher

Pollinators are everywhere and they play and extremely important in our lives and habitats, from pollinating the foods that we eat to playing a role in development of the seeds that ensure survival of native plants. Cambridge Friends School teachers Debby Knight, Science Specialist grades K-6 and First Grade Teacher Lynne May Lim teacher pollination across the elementary curriculum. They will review the basics of flower structure and function and share a number of hands-on activities that they utilizes to teach about pollinators and their roles and behaviors in the classroom and school garden. They will also discuss ways in which the beehive in the school garden at Cambridge Friends School supports pollination education.

Instructor: Debby Knight, Science Specialist (K-6) and Lynn May Lim, 1st Grade Teacher, Cambridge Friends School

Workshop 4: Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity At School

Childhood obesity is an epidemic in the nation and here in Massachusetts. In Walpole as well as in other 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 and Susan Thomas will discuss how they have brought school gardens to their schools as they present an overview of obesity, fun activities for including healthy eating and physical activities in the school, schoolyard and school garden. 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. Target audience: All grade levels.

Instructors: Susan Prindall, School Nurse, Johnson Middle School in Walpole and Susan Thomas, School Nurse at the Mountain View Elementary School in East Longmeadow.

Do you know where your trash goes once it leaves the classroom or cafeteria recycling bin? Liza Casella of Casella Waste Systems, Inc., a local recycling facility, will unravel the single stream process describing what happens once your trash reaches the recycling center. Learn how the various components are separated and where each item is dispatched and the final products made from each. Explore strategies for supporting the process through your own recycling efforts and consumption practices. In addition, try out a few activities to help support recycling education in the classroom.

Instructor: Liza Casella, Business Development at Casella Waste Systems, Inc. of Rutland VT.

Compost tea provides an excellent nutrition boost for young plants or the school garden. This mild fertilizer will provide added nutrients that can readily be taken up by plants, and yet will not burn the roots of even the youngest plants. Jim Munger is a farmer and retired professor of Environmental Chemistry from Roger Williams University. Alice Posner is a farmer and school garden educator. Together they will show you how to make compost tea and will discuss the science and chemistry involved.

Instructors: Jim Munger, farmer and retired professor of Environmental Chemistry from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. Alice Posner works on the Garden Based Education Program with Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom. She is also a garden educator in Holyoke MA. She has worked on vegetable and grain farms and runs a small jam business.

Instructor: Lee Dwyer, Gardens and Education Coordinator, Groundwork Somerville

THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW FULL!

The Chipotle Mexican Grill is the proud sponsor of the MAC 2012 Fall “Greening the School” Conference. Chipotle is committed to providing Food with Integrity. They focus on how the foods they serve are grown and raised while also supporting sustainable agriculture using fresh and nutritious ingredients from local sources when and where available. Join the Chipotle staff as they demonstrate some healthy recipes that you can easily make in the classroom.

Instructors: Jennifer Granillo, Erica Hanson and Andrew Trinchitella from Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Workshop 4: Vegetables Seed Starting in the Classroom

Yes, you can grow vegetables in the classroom! In this step-by-step hands-on workshop, Tony Ghelfi from the Manthela George School in Brockton will demonstrate how to build and set-up a classroom light unit from inexpensive materials. Then Wendy Sinard from the SLUG Program of the Boston Natural Areas Network will share how to start seeds, when to transplant seedlings, the care vegetables need indoors, the kinds of vegetables that will grow indoors, when the vegetables are ready to harvest. You will participate in a brief interactive session to connect the vegetable growing activities to learning standards - math, science, language arts!

Instructors: Tony Ghelfi, 3rd grade teacher at the Manthela George School in Brockton and Wendy Sinard from the SLUG program with the Boston Natural Areas Network

The Clay Center for Science and Technology is a state-of-the-art astronomical observatory and learning center. In addition to the observatory's seven research-grade telescopes, this five-story building contains sophisticated computer and science laboratories, a multi-media lecture hall, classrooms, dining and meeting spaces, and a solar energy roof deck and wind turbine.

Instructor: Robert Phinney, Director of the Clay Center for Science and Technology