Lettuce Learn School Garden SMARTs Professional Development Workshop Two

Posted Feb. 9, 2016 at 5:41 p.m.

BOONE—Lettuce Learn will be offering its second workshop for educators at Mountain Pathways Farm Camp in Boone Feb. 20. The professional development workshop will run from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and will include three learning stations focused on the theme of “Growing Math and Literacy in the Garden,” lunch and a raffle.

This workshop is an excellent opportunity for teachers within the public school system to learn more about how to successfully incorporate gardening into their daily classroom routines. It will cover how to start a class garden and sustain student interest, how to use technology in the garden, and also reading and writing in the garden. The workshop is open to all PreK-12th grade educators.

Registration for the workshop is $15, and the deadline to register is Feb. 15. The first 10 educators currently working full-time in a PreK-12 setting will receive their own copy of “The Growing Classroom,” a $40 resource and curriculum book from Life Lab.

The first station in the workshop, “The Practical: Building & Sustaining Student Interest in the Garden,” will be taught by Kristy Hackler who will show educators how to plan and successfully run their school garden. She will teach a variety of important skills such as outdoor classroom management techniques, succession planting, garden design sketching and year-long garden planning.

Station two, taught by Shannon Carroll, is “Technology in the Garden: From Row Covers to Smart Phones.” The session will focus on using technology for season extension techniques and useful technology tools to document, analyze and share what’s happening in the garden and greenhouse.

In the third and final station, “Find Peace & Literacy in the Garden: Reading, Writing, and Relaxing in the Garden,” Courtney Baines Smith will teach about the emotional and sensory benefits of a school garden as well as practice a kid-friendly “veggie yoga” series that teachers can share with their students outside or in the classroom.

For more information, contact Courtney Baines Smith, director of Lettuce Learn, at 828-262-7313 or [email protected].

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.