Kids Gardening
News – December 2004
CONTENTS
==========
Attention
Readers: Improved Education Resources, and Less E-mail!
Youth Garden Grants: Win $500 Gift Card
for Your Garden!
NGA Awards Programs: Win Materials
for Your Garden Project
From Journey North: Free Online Geography Project
Attention
Readers: Improved Education Resources, and Less E-mail!
=====================================================
As of mid-January 2005, we'll be combining our two educator e-newsletters
-- Kids Garden News and Classroom Projects News -- into a single FREE mailing!
We
are dedicated to providing all of you with high-quality, plant-based education
materials that support your needs, we’ll meld the best features of
both newsletters into a new, expanded Kids Garden News mailing. This means
less
e-mail and more valuable information to support your needs and efforts in
connecting people to plants through gardening.
Members
currently receiving the Classroom Projects News will automatically
receive the new free Kids Garden News e-newsletter. Current
members also will continue to receive free access to online
gardening courses, free Q & A service, and a 10-percent
discount at our online stores throughout the duration of
their current membership cycle. Starting in January
2005, our "Member" category will be called "Supporter," and
these benefits will be available to NGA Supporters for an
annual donation of $30. Membership, which will include access
to our e-mail and print newsletters, will be free.
And the
good news continues. In March 2005, we will launch a FREE,
quarterly, 8-page print newsletter called Growing Ideas.
Many of you may be familiar with this name from years past,
when NGA published Growing Ideas: A Journal of Garden-Based
Learning. The new version of Growing Ideas will include plant-based
education that can be used to enhance and strengthen formal
learning in classrooms; however, it also will address home-based
family gardening activities and the vast array of informal
programs that utilize NGA as a resource. Plant-based education
occurs in lots of ways, and we believe that this additional
print resource will complement the e-newsletter to support
your needs and efforts in connecting people to plants through
gardening. Visit
here to request a copy.
Youth Garden Grants: Win $500 Gift Card
for Your Garden
=================================================
For the 22nd year NGA will award Youth Garden Grants to schools and community
organizations with child-centered, outdoor garden programs. This year 100 garden
programs will each receive $500 gift certificates to purchase gardening supplies
and tools. The teacher/coordinator of each winning program will also receive
a one-year membership to NGA, which provides an online garden Q&A service,
online gardening and botany courses, and a 10% discount at our Gardening with
Kids store.
The application
deadline has been extended to February 1, 2005.
Please
note: As of this award cycle, Youth Garden Grants include
a reporting requirement.
Visit
here to learn more and to download and application.
NGA Awards Programs: Win Materials
for Your Garden Project!
====================================================
As winter closes in, opportunities for school and youth gardens continue to
grow! NGA and partners are proud to support the educational goals of hundreds
of fine projects every year. Applications for the following awards are currently
available.
- NEW!
Remember Me Rose School Garden Awards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This new award sponsored by Messenger, Edmunds' Roses, and "Remember
Me" Rose Gardens will help 20 schools establish rose gardens to commemorate
the events of September 11, 2001. Beyond their commemorative significance,
each garden also will be a catalyst for education in conflict resolution
and mediation skills, preparing students to seek and achieve fair and peaceful
solutions. Each winning school will receive 10 rose bushes, Messenger plant
biostimulant, and educational materials from NGA. Application deadline: January
31, 2005.
Visit
here to learn more and to download an application.
- Juliana
Room to Grow Greenhouse Awards
---------------------------------------------------------------
For a second year NGA and Juliana, manufacturer of hobby greenhouses, will
award greenhouses and other indoor growing equipment and materials to 50
school and community organizations across the U.S. Applicants must have established
gardens, propose how they will actively engage youngsters in a greenhouse
environment, and set clear teaching and learning goals. Application deadline
is December 31, 2004.
Visit
here to learn more and to download an application.
- Kids
Growing with Dutch Bulbs Awards
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sponsored by the Mailorder Gardening Association, The International Flower
Bulb Center, Dutch Bulb Exporters, and the North American Flower Bulb Wholesalers
Association, this 10th annual grant awards 225 schools with a package of
200 premium Dutch flowering bulbs. Selection criteria include student involvement,
curriculum integration, and administrative support. Application deadline:
April 1. For more information and to print an application,
Visit
here to download an application.
- Mantis
Award Program
-----------------------------------
Mantis proudly announces its 2005 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 12 gardens
to receive a Mantis Tiller/Cultivator, complete with border edger and introductory
video. We welcome applications from all nonprofits - past winners include
community gardens, schools, ministries, colleges, master gardening groups,
and hospices. In addition to the application, candidates are asked to send
a photo of the garden and a diagram of garden layout and dimensions. Annual
application deadline: March 31, 2005.
Visit
here to learn more and to download an application.
From
Journey North: Free Online Geography Project
==========================================
Teachers and students in grade 4-12 classrooms are invited to participate this
winter/spring in Journey North's Mystery Class project in which students try
to find ten secret classes "hiding" around the globe. The central
clue is the changing amount of sunlight (photoperiod) at each site. Students
first use only sunrise and sunset times, and later receive geographic, climatic,
and cultural clues about each site. In the meantime, they also track day length
in their hometowns. On this inspiring ten-week journey, young geographers must
use reasoning, graphing, and research skills to pinpoint exact locations of
the mystery classes.
In this
process, students gain understanding of the relationship
among the tilt of the earth's axis, day length, and the seasonal
changes that affect the entire web of life. Participants
develop a deep grasp of these important concepts because
they puzzle them out in real time as the project unfolds
over two and a half months.
This is
an excellent project to combine with the GEMS unit The Real
Reasons for Seasons.
To learn
more and register to participate, visit
this area on the Journey North Web site:
To learn
about other Journey North spring projects, visit their home
page.
------------------------Sponsoring Kids Garden News----------------------------
Hilton
Garden Inn, a focused-service hotel brand providing an
excellent lodging experience at a reasonable price in more
than 130 locations throughout North America, is proud to
sponsor the NGA Kids Garden News. All Hilton Garden Inn hotels
look forward to working with schools in their respective
communities to educate our young people about the importance
of gardening and our environment!
http://www.hiltongardeninn.com/en/gi/promotions/gardens/index.jhtml
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------Gardening With Kids Store----------------------------
The National Gardening Association's secure Kidsgardening Store features innovative
products, from books to butterfly houses, for those who garden with kids in
schools, at home, and in communities. We invite you to visit
and browse
http://store.yahoo.com/nationalgardening/index.html
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MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
-----------------------------------
Join
the NGA, a member-supported nonprofit organization committed to sustaining
and renewing the fundamental links between people, plants, and the earth. Member
benefits include free on-line classes, two monthly e-newsletters, free gardening
question and answer service, and 10% off purchases at our on-line stores,
on every order, every day.
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
--------------------------------------
To add your name or a friend's name to our Kids Garden E-mail News mailing
list, subscribe here.
http://www.nationalgardening.com/newsletters
To change your address, click here.
http://kids.garden.org/subscriptions/change_address.php?m=UNSUB_CODE
If you wish to remove yourself from our mailing list, click here.
http://kids.garden.org/subscriptions/unsubscribe.php?r=UNSUB_CODE
CONTACT NGA:
Phone: 888-538-7476
Sales: 800-538-7476, ext. 143
Web site: http://www.kidsgardening.com
(c) 2004 National Gardening Association
1100 Dorset Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
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