August News Items

NGA Announcements
Resources For Educators
Conferences
Funding Opportunities


NGA Announcements

Support Youth Gardens - Bid with Your Lid!
Help Boost Stonyfield Farm's donation to NGA's Adopt a School Garden Program! Stonyfield needs your help to divvy up $40,000 among three environmental nonprofit groups, and NGA is one of them. Cast one vote online now; cast more by mailing in your Stonyfield Farm yogurt lids. How much NGA gets to support school gardens is up to you! For full details, and to learn how you can earn a prize for your participation, visit here. Thanks for your votes!


Seeking Quotes from Young Gardeners
NGA regularly gets amazing feedback from teachers and parents about how youth respond to learning and growing in the garden. Now we'd like to add quotes from kids to this collection of wonderfully wise words. If you have recorded a child's or teen's expression of wonder or epiphany brought on by their gardening experiences, please send an e-mail to Barbara Richardson. We look forward to sharing these quotes with Kids Garden News readers.


___________________________


Resources for Educators

2006 "Growing Good Kids – Excellence in Children’s Literature” Awards
Created by the American Horticultural Society and the Junior Master Gardener program, the “Growing Good Kids – Excellence in Children’s Literature” award program honors outstanding children’s gardening and nature books. For titles and descriptions of this year's winners, visit the JMG Web site.


Fresh Ideas for Teaching Genetics in Grades 9-12

Teaching genetic concepts with the same old pink petunias and Mendel’s peas can get a little repetitious. With Garden Genetics, now available from NSTA Press, teachers can present core content in ways that are fresh for them and fun for students. The two-part set — a teacher edition (which includes a full student edition) and separate student edition — is adaptable to biology students at all levels, including AP. To browse sample chapters and to order, visit the NSTA Web site.


Take Part in Journey North
Teachers and students in K-12 classrooms are invited to participate in Journey North’s 14th global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. One of the nation’s premier Internet-based “citizen science” projects, Journey North enables students in 11,000 schools to track the seasons on a real-time basis. 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. Learn more about Journey North.

___________________________


Conferences


National Garden Policy Conference at Drake University
~ Sept. 7-8, 2006
NGA has joined the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, to organize a two-day conference, "Gardens for All: People, Plants, and Policy."
This historic conference will take a comprehensive look at the role of federal, state, and local policy in shaping gardening in the United States, covering topics from school gardening to food security. For more information about the conference registration details, please visit here.


North American Association for Environmental Education
Annual Conference ~
October 10-13, 2006
Gather with colleagues in St. Paul, Minnesota, for more than 350 presentations, three exceptional keynote speakers, 17 pre-conference workshops, 14 field trips, and an exhibit fair. Special discounted registration rates available for classroom teachers, students, and retirees, and there are a limited number of scholarships available to students, individuals from minority cultures, and K-12 teachers. For full details visit the NAAEE Web site.

___________________________


Funding Opportunities
(Listed chronologically by deadline date)

Lowe's Outdoor Classroom Grant Program ~ Deadline: August 31
This program provides outdoor, hands-on science education to students in grades K-12 and assists schools in enhancing their core curriculum in all subjects. Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation, International Paper, and National Geographic Explorer! classroom magazine have partnered to create an outdoor classroom grant program to provide schools with additional resources to improve their science curriculum by engaging students in hands-on experiences outside the traditional classroom. All K-12 public schools in the United States are welcome to apply. Visit the Web site for more information.


Starbucks Foundation: Giving Voice
~ Deadline: September 1
Giving Voice funds programs for youth ages 6-18 that integrate literacy with personal and civic action in the communities where they live. The Starbucks Foundation invites letters of inquiry from qualifying 501(c)3 organizations that work with underserved youth in the fields of literacy (reading, writing, and creative/media arts) and programs that offer place-based approaches to addressing environmental literacy and empower youth to be heroes for a sustainable environment in their own communities. Grants range from $5,000-$20,000. Learn more at the Starbucks Foundation Web site.


American Horticultural Society Awards
~ Nominations due September 22
Through its national awards programs, the American Horticultural Society (AHS) celebrates outstanding achievements, encourages excellence, and inspires innovation in the art and science of horticulture. The AHS sponsors several awards including the Jane L. Taylor Award and Teaching Award reserved for educators. To make nominations for the 2007 awards, download a form from the AHS Web site.


Project Learning Tree's GreenWorks Grants
~ Deadline: September 29
Do you have an idea for an exciting service-learning or community action project for your students but you don't have enough funds to implement it? Why not apply for one of PLT's GreenWorks! grants? GreenWorks! offers educators the opportunity to apply for grants to implement community action and service-learning projects. Across the country, PLT trained educators teaching in both formal and non-formal settings are eligible to apply for and receive GreenWorks! grants. Click here for more details.


2006 Hooked on Hydroponics Awards
~ Deadline: September 30
Classroom hydroponics offers eager students loads of opportunities to explore concepts across the curriculum, from biology to economics. Twelve educational programs will each receive a compact hydroponics package that includes everything required to grow plants successfully indoors. This award is sponsored by the Hydroponic Merchants Association and leading hydroponics equipment suppliers. Learn more here


Captain Planet Foundation
~ Deadline: September 30
Committed to supporting hands-on environmental projects for young people, the foundation provides grants from $250 to $2,500 to school and community groups. The next quarterly deadline is September 30, 2006. Visit the Web site for guidelines and a proposal form.


Healthy Sprouts Awards
~ Deadline: October 15
These awards support school garden programs that use the garden to teach about nutrition and the issue of hunger in the United States. Sponsored by Gardener’s Supply Company. In this grant cycle we will present awards to 25 schools or organizations. Each will receive a $200 gift certificate to Gardener's Supply Company and a curriculum package from NGA. To learn more or download an application, visit here.


Lowe's Toolbox for Education
~ Deadline: October 15
Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) provides grants of up to $5,000 to nonprofit K-12 school or parent groups to support projects that encourage parent involvement and build stronger community spirit. The deadline is October 15, 2006, or when 1,500 applications are received, so get your application in early! See the Lowe's Web site for details.


2006 Organic School Garden Awards ~ Deadline: October 31
Do you use organic methods in your school garden? If so, you are eligible to enter this contest sponsored by The Rodale Institute. Teams of students and teachers are asked to submit an essay and poster that express how they use their school garden as a learning tool, how they use the produce they grow, and what impact it has for the students and community. Three winning schools will receive cash prizes of $250, $500, and $1,000. The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2006. Visit the Web site for entry forms, guidelines, and information on previous winners.


The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant
~ Deadline: November 15
This program gives small monetary grants to schools, nature centers, or other nonprofit educational organizations for the purpose of establishing outdoor learning centers. Funds must be used to purchase native plants and seeds. To qualify for a grant, organizations must successfully reflect the Wild Ones mission: To educate and share information about the benefits of using native plants in our landscape, and to promote biodiversity and environmentally sound practices. Visit here for more information.


I Love Schools.com
Iloveschools.com is a free donor-matching service for education. Teachers build WishLists of equipment, materials and supplies — anything they need for their classrooms. Donors locate teachers through the WishList search and offer their donations of new or used items, or the funds towards the teacher's WishList. Learn more at the I Love Schools.com Web site.


Grant Wrangler Funding Directory
Grant Wrangler is a free grants listing service that makes it easy for teachers to find funding. To see the full list of funding opportunities, and to subscribe to the monthly e-newsletter, visit the Grant Wrangler Web site.

 


Copyright© 2006 National Gardening Association