News
Items
2006
NGA Grants and Awards Programs
Information on NGA's 2006 cycle of grants and awards is now available on the
Kidsgardening Web site. Click
here for more details.
Draw
Your State Flower National Contest
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company invites elementary school children (K-6) to draw
their state flowers. This national contest is designed to increase appreciation
for our state flowers, and to raise awareness of the new National Garden in Washington,
D.C. One winner will be selected from each state, and winning entries will be
displayed at the National Garden, part of the U.S. Botanic Garden adjacent to
the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
is proud to be an Official Founding Sponsor of the National Garden. This competition
is open to students in grades K-6 from all 50 states; contest deadline is November
1, 2005. Visit the Scotts’ Web
site for
more details.
Raise
Money with Flower Bulbs: Keep 50% of Total Sales!
NGA is proud to
endorse the Dutch Gardens Bulb Fundraising Program. The Summer-Fall
program offers spring-blooming flora: tulips, daffodils, crocuses,
and more. And it's a great deal — your school or youth program gets
to keep 50 percent of total sales! To learn more, visit
here.
Growing
Good Kids: Excellence in Children's Literature Awards
The Junior Master Gardener Program and the American Horticultural
Society have launched a new award program for children's garden literature:
"Growing Good Kids — Excellence in Children’s
Literature." In this charter year, the two groups honored
classic titles representing the top 40 books of the last 100 years.
Going forward,
new books will be recognized annually for the year they are published. Books
are chosen based on how well they promote an understanding
of and
appreciation for gardening and the environment. Click
here to view the list
of 2005 winners or to nominate a book for the 2006 award.
Journey
North begins “Journey South” Program
Journey North provides online educational programs that engage
students across the country in an interactive global study of wildlife migration
and seasonal change. Standards-based lesson plans, activities, and
information help students make local observations and fit them into a larger
context by collecting and submitting data into common database. Click
here to learn more about the Fall 2005 Journey South program .
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School
Garden Research
School Gardening Program Improves Science Achievement Scores
A recent study in Texas published by Dr. Cindy Klemmer confirms that
school gardening programs can improve science achievement. The research
focused
on third, fourth, and fifth graders; an experimental group participated
in school gardening activities as part of their science curriculum,
and a control group used traditional classroom-based methods. Students
in the experimental group scored significantly higher on the science
achievement test compared to the students in the control group. A similar
study by Leanna Smith in Louisiana also recognizes improvements
in science scores in classes participating in gardening programs.
For
more information check out the article in the July to September 2005
edition of HortTechnology.
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Funding Opportunities:
2006
Youth Garden Grants ~ Apply by Nov. 30
Information
about the 2006 Youth Garden Grant sponsored by The Home Depot is
now available. Click
here to
download an application.
12th
Annual Kids Growing with Dutch Bulbs Awards ~ This
program of the Mailorder Gardening Association, offered in conjunction
with
the International
Flower Bulb Center, Dutch Bulb Exporters, and the North American
Flower Bulb Wholesalers Association awards
schools with a package of 200 premium Dutch flowering bulbs and
related educational activities.
Application deadline: April 1, 2006. Learn
more here.
2006
Mantis Awards ~ Mantis proudly announces its expanded
2006 award program in support of charitable and educational garden
programs that
enhance
the quality of life in their host communities. In partnership with
Mantis, the NGA will select 25 gardens to receive a prize: 20 will
each receive a Mantis Tiller/Cultivator, and five will receive
a ComposT-Twin composting system. We welcome applications from
all nonprofits — past winners include
community gardens, schools,
ministries, colleges, master gardening groups, and hospices. Learn
more here
Adopt
a School Garden Registry ~ This new program from NGA matches
schools in need of resources for their
gardening and plant-based education programs with people who have
the ability and desire to help.
NGA will also mentor educators and volunteers, and provide
resources to ensure program sustainability.
If
your program is already listed in the School
Garden Registry on Kidsgardening.com, your
listing automatically appears in the searchable
Adopt a
School Garden (ASG) database on the National
Gardening Association Web site. To be sure your information
is current, please take a moment now to:
-
- add
your school to the ASG database
- Remember, if you're
listed in the School Garden Registry, you're also in the ASG database,
so you don't need to submit your school to both. Thanks for participating!
Pay It
Forward Foundation $50 TO $500 Mini-grants
~ Apply by Oct. 15
Pay it Forward Foundation offers mini-grants (up to $500) to fund
service-oriented projects designed by youth to support their
school, neighborhood, or greater
community. Projects must contain a "pay it forward" focus
- that is, they must be based on the concept of one person doing a
favor
for others,
who
in turn do favors for theirs, with the results growing exponentially
— to be considered in the grant
making process. Click
here for more details.
Organic School Garden Awards ~ Apply by Oct. 31
Teams of students and teachers submit essays and posters that express
how their school garden improves students' health and the health
of the Earth.
Three
winning schools will receive cash prizes of $250, $500, and $1,000. The
deadline for
submissions is October 31, 2005. To learn more about contest details,
visit the Rodale
Institute's KidsRegen.org Web site.
Do Something
BRICK Youth Award ~ Apply by Nov. 1
The Do Something BRICK Award honors six outstanding leaders aged 18
and younger who use their talents to take action that measurably
strengthens their local communities in the areas of community building,
health,
or the environment. Applications must be received by November 1,
2005. Click
here for more details.
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Hot
Horticultural Resources from NGA Plant
Finder
Looking for a plant with specific characteristics? Try searching our new
Plant Finder database. More than
1600 plants are tagged by attributes, such as plant type, hardiness zone, flower
color, and season of bloom, as well as
special features, such as "attracts butterflies" or "good for
cut flowers." You can go on to access detailed information and
photos. Check it out!
Regional
Reports
NGA's biweekly Regional Reports are one of our most popular features, and
for good reason! Twice a month our 12 horticultural columnists offer recommendations
for gardeners in their area. You can read them at the NGA Web site, or
subscribe
to the bimonthly e-newsletter version. Read
the current reports.
Copyright© 2005
National Gardening Association
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