Boise Urban Garden School (BUGS) is looking for your input!

At BUGS we focus on providing youth with direct knowledge through “real life” experiences. A student that is able to dig in the soil, plant a seed, and watch it sprout is far more likely to discover that they are excited and eager to eat the fruits of their labor, and that they understand the science behind a sprouting seed or photosynthesis.

A History of our “Toward an Edible Schoolyard” at Taft Elementary School
In 2010, with funding from a local foundation, BUGS completed our “Toward an Edible Schoolyard” project at W.H. Taft Elementary School. Throughout the course of the year, BUGS staff worked with Principal Dr. Susan Williamson and administrative staff in the district to build the infrastructure for an on-site school garden, and partnered with Taft teachers on age-appropriate, hands-on curriculum in botany, biology, math and environmental science. Dr. Williamson was able to recruit community and neighborhood members to maintain the garden over the summer months, and reported that the entire project was a huge success!
 

Since the first Edible Schoolyard was launched, we have been evaluating and refining our model to ensure the sustainability of the program and expansion to other schools throughout our area. While BUGS would like to go to every school in the valley and help to build an onsite garden, we just don’t have the time or the funding. For this reason we are developing a tool kit called “Just Add Water” for the creation and maintenance of school gardens and programs.
Within this manual, we will provide information to support a school garden of any size. BUGS will provide: curricular overviews and lesson plans for teachers and educators (from math and science, to art and social studies in grades K-6), garden plans and infrastructure requirements (several blueprints to accommodate any size garden), contacts for assistance in building the garden, a fundraising plan for materials and costs, a list of contacts of community members, businesses, and other groups that would like to support their local school in establishing and maintaining a garden, and ongoing training and consulting services from the BUGS staff for several years after garden implementation.
 

We are currently looking for elementary teachers from all grades to participate in a survey to help guide our process moving forward. That’s where you come in! To participate in our survey please follow the link below.
 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HD5MSRN

Each teacher that participates will be entered into a drawing to win a free field trip to our garden (transportation included) this spring!

While visiting the garden, your students will participate in activities such as: planting and tasting activities, garden tours, examining compost and learning about beneficial bugs in the garden, and the environmental and health benefits of local organic gardening and produce.