 Sonoma County Bee Keepers Association offers free educational presentations with activities for classes with grade appropriate material. They prepare several hands-on activities including singing, drawing, and manipulating bee-related paraphernalia. Also covered are more advanced topics in genetics and environmental issues for high schools and adults. Please see this document for a general outline of the various topics covered: Topics Covered in School Presentations (PDF).
For more information and to request a free presentation at your school. Visit their website here.  This month, NestWatch unveiled a new FREE resource for educators of middle school students (grades 5-8). Thinking Outside The (Nest) Box, It includes a series of five activities leading youth through the steps of making a nest box for small songbirds, placing it in the appropriate habitat, and monitoring the birdhouse as a citizen scientist. Students get hands-on experience while learning about the life cycles of birds.
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Botany on Your Plate is an inquiry-based curriculum for grades k-5 developed by the University of California’s Botanical Garden. The units weave together nutritional health, mathematics, language arts, social studies and investigative science.
We will be tasting our way to nutrition and science, so come learn from experienced garden educators, as they explore this cross-cutting curriculum.. Plus receive a 25% discount on the book and any gardening supplies from the Gardener's Supply Company. Additional Themes will include: Nutritional empowerment Food literacy programming in schools Positive classroom management strategies Gardening skills Location: Permaculture Skills Center, 2185 Gravenstein Hwy S, Sebastopol, CA 95472 Date: November 8, 2018 9am-4pm Fee: $135 Discount Rate: $114.75: Receive a 15% discount if you come with a team member or if you register by October 25th. Mail a check to: P.O. Box 1367, Sebastopol, CA 95473 CEU credit available Garden Lunch provided REGISTER HERE Instructors: Kaelyn Ramsden is a farmer and educator living in Northern California who is dedicated to making learning come alive in the outdoor classroom. Her work since graduating from the Community Studies program at UC Santa Cruz where her focus was environmental justice has continued to be deeply rooted in building the strength and resilience of her local communities through education and farming. As the former School Garden Coordinator at Harmony Unified School District, Kaelyn worked to advance the farm-to-school movement by teaching kids of all ages to grow food for their cafeteria and local community. Her classes aim to inspire reverence for the land and the responsibility we have to protect it. Anne Loarie is the Garden and Wellness Teacher at Alexander Valley School and the Healthy Roots Program Director at School Garden Network. She integrates common core curricular concepts in a structured garden setting for K-6 classrooms. She emphasizes the interconnectedness between the plants we eat, food systems, cultural relationships to food and how we view and frame healthy eating in our society. Her goal as an educator is to cultivate the “aha!” moments in children as they learn that they can, in fact, enjoy healthy eating. Laurel Anderson is a long time garden educator with a passion for sharing the joys of the garden with youth. She is currently very interested in schoolyard habitats, seed saving, heirloom beans and Monarchs!! She is currently on the board of directors of the School Garden Network and is partnering with the US Fish & Wildlife Service on our local Schoolyard Habitat program.  Student Activity Field Testing Opportunity
Want to play a part in helping Beetles publish resources for instructors? Sign up to help them test out new BEETLES student activities! Testing and feedback from instructors in different settings are important parts of making their activities work well with audiences across the country (and other countries too). Activities ready for testing include a beach exploration, 2 garden based activities, an adaptations activity, and a routine to set up group agreements for science discussions. Field testers will receive a $20 stipend for each activity tested. Interested? Fill out this survey. Reminder: Send them your awesome activities! BEETLES wants you to send them your outstanding student activities! These should be activities that take place outdoors and involve students engaging directly with nature. BEETLES will read all activities submitted, choose two they think can be shared nationally, then revise and field test them. The resulting “rockstar” activities will be published with a shared copyright agreement between the organization that submitted them and BEETLES. Want to know more? See the full announcement and guidelines here.  FREE plants are available to all school gardens at the Ceres Community Project's Sebastopol garden site care of Sweetwater Nursery . There are Broccoli, Chinese Cabbage, Califlower, Komastsuna Summer Fest, Pak Choi, Mizuna Lime Stream and more! All the seedlings are organic and are ready to be planted!
You can find the plants on the pallets outside of the greenhouse on the left side of the garden. Please water them before you leave. Thank you for being mindful of the signs, and closing the gate behind you. A special thanks to Sweetwater Nursery for supporting school gardens and for the Ceres Community garden for always hosting a place for SGN's free plants.  The School Garden Network (SGN) has been working in partnership with US Fish and Wildlife Service (US F&WS) since 2012 to develop and implement the Schoolyard Habitat Program (SHP) in Sonoma County. We are thrilled to announce a recipient of our 2018 Schoolyard Habitat Grant, Village Charter School. We know they will create a wonderful space for children and wildlife to interact. The Schoolyard Habitat Program helps teachers and students create wildlife habitat at their own schools. A schoolyard habitat project is a naturalized habitat area that is used for classroom field studies and observations. A well-designed project that is integrated into the curriculum will foster long-term ecological stewardship in children of all ages. For more information please visit our Schoolyard Habitat Programs page HERE.   Next Sunday save 20% on everything in the store at Sports Basement in Santa Rosa plus become a Basementeer for FREE. See you there!
 NBCC Garden of Eatin' Novato program has a new garden/program position open at the main Novato school site.
Their Job Posting Follows: Looking for a seasoned gardener, someone that can create bountiful year round organic tasting and teaching gardens. The right person can also help teach gardening to adults and children. This person will have demonstrated skills in running a greenhouse, creating a seasonal crop plan, know how to mitigate bugs and critters, can build a bean pole teepee in a Three sisters garden, do seasonal pruning of bushes and trees, have experience with compost and vermiculture, and the right person brings innovative, sustainable best practices to their work. Must be a team player and work collaboratively. Flexible hours, 25-32 and flexible days starting at $22 an hour depending on experience. Paid sick and vacation days as well as health benefits if you work 32 hours or more per week. Please email your resume to Teresa Fogolini tfogoini@nbcc.net  The Gravenstein Apple Fair will be held once again at Ragle Ranch Park in Sebastopol on Saturday and Sunday, August 11 & 12. The theme this year is "Habitat Renewal & Community Resilience" to honor the rich agricultural history and diverse natural habitats across Sonoma County.
Get your advanced tickets online, here! You may also purchase tickets at a discounted rate at all Copperfield's Books & Oliver's Markets and at Harmony Farm Supply & Nursery in Sebastopol. If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up online here. You'll a receive free weekend admission when you volunteer for 1 shift (~4.5 hours).  FREE plants are available to all school gardens at the Ceres Community Project's Sebastopol garden site care of NOCI . There are mixed veggies and flowers! All the seedlings are organic and are ready to be planted!
You can find the plants on the pallets outside of the greenhouse on the left side of the garden. If you notice that the plants are dry, please water them. Thank you for being mindful of the signs, and closing the gate behind you. A special thanks to Noci for supporting schools gardens and for the Ceres garden for always hosting a place for SGN's free plants. |
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