‘How can we inspire the next generation of problem solvers and innovators, with the skills and motivation to work for the health of our environment, our food system and our communities?
That question was front and centre last week at the School Garden Summit 2018, as we explored the role of school gardens in growing our future leaders!
On March 2 & 3, Little Green Thumbs hosted the School Garden Summit, along with Agriculture in the Classroom Saskatchewan. We had an incredible 2 days of dynamic learning, with 2 keynote speakers, 12 sharing circles, 16 breakout sessions, 26 speakers and 110 educators in attendance. That’s a wrap!
We know that a school garden is an exceptional learning tool which catalyzes food literacy, agriculture and environmentally engaged learning, and we are on a mission to get the word out about it! We were thrilled to host a learning opportunity to build connections, mobilize knowledge, inspire new ways of thinking and motive educators to bring their teaching to life.
A big thank you to our keynote speakers, Tiffany Poirier a.k.a. the Inquiry Ninja and Megan Zeni, who brought the ideas of inquiry-based learning to life in a school or classroom garden. Check out some free resources available on both of their websites.
Tiffany Poirier, The Inquiry Ninja
We were fortunate to host engaging sessions on Intergenerational Learning, Incorporating Indigenous Learning into the Garden, Nutrition, Cooking with Kids, Composting, Community Engagement and more! A special thank you to cultural advisor Harvey Knight for helping to set a warm and engaging tone for the summit by offering an opening blessing.
Our Summit attendees shared with us some of their reflections and experience, and we had to share:
“I love how the garden spreads into many aspects of school, family, and community learning.”
“Interdisciplinary topics are abundant! Just need to “dig” for it.”
“Using food in the classroom is guaranteed to create a warm welcoming environment and authentic relationships. Growing food from seed adds depth and breadth to the experience.”
“The Summit was like going to a cognitive spa. We were challenged, informed, affirmed, fed really well & praised over and over.”
Stay tuned for our next School Garden Summit, new resources and learning opportunities from Little Green Thumbs by subscribing to our newsletter here.
