Greening Your Schoolyard: Creating Habitat and Learning Spaces

1. F I V E R I V E R S M E T R O P A R K S • Jeremy Barkley • Samantha Conner • 2018-2019

2. 25 facilities ~16,000 acres protected Aullwood Garden MetroPark Carriage Hill MetroPark Cox Arboretum MetroPark Deeds Point MetroPark Eastwood MetroPark Englewood MetroPark Germantown MetroPark Hills & Dales MetroPark Huffman MetroPark Island MetroPark National City 2nd Street Market Possum Creek MetroPark RiverScape MetroPark Sugarcreek MetroPark Sunrise MetroPark Taylorsville MetroPark Twin Creek MetroPark Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark Wesleyan MetroPark/Adventure Central Conservation Areas Recreation Trails River Corridors Recreation Facilities

4. A Green Schoolyard (GSY) is… A GSY serves as a habitat or refuge for humans and wildlife to co-exist. Most importantly, a GSY re-establishes ties that are becoming lost in our digital world.

5. Greening Your Schoolyard School gardens come in all shapes and sizes The Miami Valley School

6. Also known as WILD School Sites Outdoor Classrooms Habitats for Learning Green Space Green Room Schoolyard Habitats School Nature Centers School Vegetable Gardens

7. Why have a Green Schoolyard? Some startling finds: • Children ages 8-18 spend 7-1/2 hours a day in front of media. (Kaiser Family Foundation (2010). “Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds.) • In a typical week, only 6 percent of children ages 9-13 play outside on their own. (Children and Nature Network, 2008. ) • The key obstacles to overcome in getting youth to spend more time in nature are a lack of access, a lack of interest, and feelings of discomfort. (The Nature Conservancy Connecting America’s Youth to Nature Survey Results. Methodology: From July 28 to August 4.)

8. Academic Connections

9. Steps to Starting a GSY • Develop your GSY Team • Develop your Goals • Complete a Site Analysis • Hold a Design Meeting • Practical Planning • Mock up your Garden • Funding your Garden • Install the Garden • Keep your Garden Going

10. Develop your GSY team: • Hold a brainstorming meeting to gauge interest in the garden. Include all parties interested. • Important players: • Coordinator(s) • Teachers • Maintenance Staff • Faculty Members • Garden Volunteers • For weeding, constructing new beds, supervising kids, etc. • Community Members • Students • Parents • Public Relations

11. Develop your Goals • Hold a Visioning Session Ask open ended questions such as: • Why do you want a garden? • How many students will be in the garden at once? • What classes will use the garden? • When will the garden be used? • Who will maintain the garden? • Where will the garden be located? Why? • Once goals are defined, start planning process but - Remain Flexible.

12. Do a Site Analysis • Observe your site • Size of Site • Sunlight • Water • Soil Assessment • Drainage • Access • Traffic Patterns (i.e. sports, recess) • Existing Features • “look” Create a rough map of your findings.

13. Hold a Design Meeting • Draw a garden plan: • Garden beds, water areas, pathways, trees, sitting area

14. What Projects Can You Do? Primary Village South Bird Feeding and Monitoring Primary Village South

15. Habitat/Home for Wildlife Primary Village South

16. Practical Planning • Materials • Teaching areas • Beds • Pathways • Construction Methods • Consider volunteer skills and desires • Existing structures • Plant Preferences • Focus on garden theme • Plot your garden use on a calendar Cleveland School Lange School

17. http://veggieharvest.com/calendars/zone-6.html

18. Planting Prairie Seeds

20. Mock up your Garden Actually lay out the garden to size before you build • Does it match your vision? • Check Accessibility • Make sure you’ve chosen practical pathway materials • Tour layout of the garden • See what response you get http://www.sustainablearlington.org/sa15/resources/news/1/234-let-it-rain-gardens-

21. Funding your Garden • Donations • Time (volunteers) • Materials (talk to local stores, found items) Don’t forget about your existing inventory! • Fundraisers • Local resources (MetroParks) • Networking • Grants (WILD School Sites) Funding is an ongoing Process… http://www.warming-trends.com/blog-archives/blog_More-Creative-Ideas-for-Garden-Planters-from-Recycled-Goods.html

22. Freebies! • Compost—Compost Kitchen • Leaves • Woodchips • Cardboard • Manure • Seed swaps • Ask for donations! http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/composting/start-compost-pile/#. http://www.bostonbuildingresources.com/advice/which-home-compost-bin-is-the-best-choice

23. Install the Garden Schedule workdays to install elements of your garden: • Bed building • Laying compost and path material • Planting days for seeds, plugs, seedlings • Mural painting day More ideas? Lange School Cleveland School • Don’t forget to ADVERTISE and CELEBRATE each step!

24. Keep your garden going! • Upkeep • Maintain Soil • Weed Control • Summer plans • Work with Maintenance • Recruit volunteers—and have volunteer appreciation events • Future Funding • Continue to build relationships • Ask for donations • Apply for grants • Keep the community involved • Plan to expand

25. Steps to Starting a GSY • Develop your GSY Team • Develop your Goals • Complete a Site Analysis • Hold a Design Meeting • Construction and Practical Planning • Mock up your Garden • Funding your Garden • Install the Garden • Keep your Garden Going

26. Accessible and Container Gardens Small planters can be reached from paved area and are small enough to be moved Hanging gardens for access at any level http://accessiblegardens.blogspot.com/p/components-of-accessible-garden.html

27. Theme Gardens Recipe Garden Alphabet Garden • Wildlife Garden

28. Literature Gardens Jack in the Beanstalk Wizard of Oz Peter Rabbit

29. Fairy Garden Three Sisters Garden

30. Sensation Gardens http://terradesignstudios.com/commission/wegerzyn-gardens-metropark/ https://www.metroparks.org/discovery-garden/ Primary Village South

31. Edible Flower Gardens http://growingstories.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/summers-edible-flowers/ Chives http://www.gardeners.com/how-to/edible-flowers/8078.html

32. Rain Gardens Installed in 2006, picture taken in 2007 By resident in Plymouth, MN http://www.raingardennetwork.com/rgphotosE5.htm Native Rain Garden Ritter Public Library Vermillion, Ohio

33. Perch and Plant Garden

34. Life in a Log Get Creative! The Miami Valley School

35. FRMP Green Schoolyards Program • First Contact Visit: • Discussion with GSY team and a walk through of prospective site • After the meeting the teachers then speaks with additional faculty and Principal invites us back for a second visit. • Second Site Visit and Group Presentation: • Formal Presentation on Creating a Green Schoolyard plus walk through of site • This qualifies as WILD School Site Presentation and allows us to give you some resources from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources • Opportunity to apply for partnership with FRMP • Requires a School Liaison and Principal Acknowledgement • Will have access to tools, resources and timely communication • Receive two outreach programs from FRMP at school site • Assistance with designing and support during a welcome to the garden open house

36. So what is a WILD School Site? http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/education-and-outdoor-discovery/conservation-education-project-wild You already have a WILD school site… Just go outside!

37. Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Check out this Web site at www.WILDOhio.comfor information and WSS grant.You may also call or 1-800-Wildlife for resources This presentation made in partnership with ODNR

38. Resources • School and Garden Educators (SAGE) • American Community Gardening Association http://communitygarden.org • Central State University Extension http://www.centralstate.edu/academics/cse/ns01.php?Natural-Sciences-Facilities-12 • Compost Calculator http://www.math.umn.edu/~white004/personal/compost.html • Cornell Waste Management Institute http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/healthysoils.htm • Dayton Metro Library Seed Lending locations • Brookville, Huber Heights, West Carrollton

39. Resources • Dayton Metro Library Grants Information Center • http://www.daytonmetrolibrary.org/nonprofit-resources/dayton-grants?id=351 • Five Rivers MetroParks http://metroparks.org • The National Wildlife Federation • https://www.nwf.org/Home/Educational-Resources • Ohio Department of Natural Resources • http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/education-and-outdoor-discovery/conservation-education-project-wild#tabr1 • OSU County Extensions: Master Gardener, Nutrition http://extension.osu.edu/ • Green Teacher Webinars • https://greenteacher.com/webinars/

40. School Garden Resources Garden Planning & DesignAudubon: http://www.audubon.org/plantsforbirdsMonarch Watch:http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/ National Wildlife Federation:https://www.nwf.org/garden-for-wildlife School Garden Wizard:schoolgardenwizard.org Summer Maintenance Ideas:https://kidsgardening.org/gardening-basics-maintaining-a-school-garden-in-summer/ The Pollinator Partnership: http://www.pollinator.org/ U.S. Fish & Wildlife:http://www.fws.gov/cno/pdf/HabitatGuideColor.pdf Gardening TipsGreen Education Foundation: http://www.greeneducationfoundation.org/greenthumbchallengesub/gardening-resources.html

41. Garden Curriculum & ActivitiesBig Green: https://biggreen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/76-TKC-NGSS-in-the-Learning-Garden.pdf Green Education Foundation:http://www.greeneducationfoundation.org/greenthumbchallengesub/curriculum-and-activities.htmlKids Gardening: https://kidsgardening.org/educator-resources/ Lessons for the School Garden & Classroom: http://eatthinkgrow.org/Ohio Department of Natural Resources: http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/portals/wildlife/pdfs/education/wss%20projects.pdfOrganic Farming Research Foundation:http://ofrf.org/education/database Funding SourcesKids Gardening:https://kidsgardening.org/grants/ North Central SARE:https://www.northcentralsare.org/Grants/Our-Grant-Programs/Youth-Educator-Grant-Program Ohio EPA, Ohio Environmental Education Grant: http://epa.ohio.gov/oee/EnvironmentalEducation.aspx#131364250-environmental-education ODNR Wild School Site: http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/portals/wildlife/pdfs/education/dnr%209009,%20wss%20grant.pdf Slow Food USA: https://www.slowfoodusa.org/resources-and-grants The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, BirdSleuth K-12: http://www.birdsleuth.org/garden-grants/ USDA Farm to School:https://www.fns.usda.gov/grant-opportunities

42. Green Schoolyards Contacts • Five Rivers MetroParks Staff • Doug Horvath, Education Supervisor • 937-277-4835 • Doug.horvath@metroparks.org • Kate Lowry, Education Supervisor • Kaitlyn.Lowry@metroparks.org • Green Schoolyards Coordinators • Samantha Conner • Samantha.Conner@metroparks.org • Jeremy Barkley • Jeremy.barkley@metroparks.org

43. F I V E R I V E R S M E T R O P A R K S