Gardening and Hands-On Learning Have Never Been More Important.
Rogue Valley Farm to School spent the summer strategizing on how we could continue to serve students during pandemic times, meeting with superintendents and principals to ask how we could be true partners and continue to work towards positive change. Programs needed to be inclusive and responsive to the needs of schools and families.
During the summer we pivoted to offer farm fresh produce directly to families enabling us to feed families and support farmers during the challenges of COVID. We partnered with Fry Family Farm to launch the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, providing 2,000 boxes of local organic produce to families of our 10 partner schools each week. Each box also included an issue of Food for Thought, a weekly newsletter filled with delectable recipes and hands-on science activities using the fresh veggies found in each box.
As schools settled on distance learning, with some childcare on campus and limited in person instruction, we worked on creating a virtual and in-person curriculum. Just as we were ready to start rolling out our programs, the Almeda fire ripped through our community, leaving a large percentage of the Phoenix-Talent School District students without homes. We paused our programs to simply serve as volunteers in whatever way the community needed. Once again, we reimagined our programs to serve students in this challenging time. From this arose our current education program, which will no doubt continue to evolve.
Despite all the challenges and changes, we felt it was crucial to continue to offer our education programs at the schools. There are a myriad of benefits to these programs and we felt students and families needed this support now more than ever. We are working with our 32 partner classes at 10 partner schools in 4 school districts, as well as additional students through school site childcare and special education.
Our Current Program Offerings for partner schools
Coloring Book:
The Hands that Feed Us
Las Manos que nos Alimentan
In partnership with local artist, Betty LaDuke, we developed a coloring book aligning her sketches of farm workers in the field with prompts tied to our lessons plans. All our partner students are receiving the book and the Phoenix-Talent students also received their own set of colored pencils. The book brings themes of community connections, local food systems, gratitude for farm workers, and celebration of nutritional food.
Virtual garden Instruction
Using The Hands that Feed Us as a framework, we have been developing virtual garden education lessons for our partner schools where we are unable to do in-person garden time. These synchronous lessons incorporate the above themes with interactive and sensory activities. Educators strive to bring mindfulness and the excitement of the garden to students. Many of our partner students are without a home after the fire and we have worked to make activities inclusive and uplifting.
In-person garden Instruction
Educators are offering in-person garden lessons utilizing schools’ Limited In-Person Instruction (LIPI) time as well as working with special education and onsite childcare students. Lessons are hands-on and focus on sensory and mindfulness to build connection and social and emotional well being.