The EARTH (Education And Resiliency Through Horticulture) Program after four years

The EARTH (Education And Resiliency Through Horticulture) Program is a donor funded school gardening and service learning partnership between Iowa State University (ISU), Ames, Iowa and Gifft Hill School (GHS), St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. The program was developed at a participatory planning meeting in February 2010 that included administrators, faculty, and an undergraduate student from ISU, and board members, administrators, teachers, and parents from GHS. This unique program provides opportunities to learn through experience and interactions for both college students and youth.

 Since summer of 2010, ISU has sent 2-4 undergraduate students each semester to St. John to teach horticulture and environmental science to 6^th-8^th grade youth at GHS. Interest from other teachers has led to the expansion of the program to other grades and subjects. In addition to supervised lesson planning, instruction, and assessment, ISU students maintain edible and ornamental gardens and complete an individual legacy project. Three graduate students have been part of the EARTH Program, assisting with program administration and completing their master’s research in areas including information systems for school gardens, impact of school gardens on student attitudes and beliefs, and teacher perceptions of educational goals.

 Lessons learned during the first four years of the EARTH Program include: 1) Experience gained in balancing goals, perspectives, and priorities between program stakeholders. 2) Adding a summer internship for ISU students extended the season and allowed for better use of facilities.  3) Efficient use of multipurpose spaces achieves multiple program goals and incorporates community service and involvement. 4) Including entrepreneurship opportunities to teach youth important skills while providing a potential revenue stream. For example, adding chickens manages insect pests, reduces food waste, provides coop construction projects, and creates an opportunity to offer a high school youth to gain micro-enterprise experience marketing eggs.

 Future goals for the program begin with a second participatory strategic planning session scheduled for summer 2014. This meeting will review the programs progress and allow stakeholders to voice opinions. Discussions will include how to diversify program revenues, form stronger partnerships with local universities, and become more active in national school gardening and farm to school organizations. We will explore how to better integrate EARTH with other curricula at GHS and develop relationships with other school gardens using distance education technologies.