June 6-7, Take Root! training @ John Jay Homestead & Mt Kisco Child Care Center

Take Root! A Training for Garden Educators

Cornell Garden-Based Learning (CGBL) is pleased to announce a new professional development approach called Take Root! A Training for Garden Educators.

Host a Take Root! Training: CGBL is looking for partners in New York State to host and facilitate these trainings with us. Partners may include Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) County offices and non-profits or community organizations that are interested in garden-based learning program development or expansion.

Attend a Take Root! Training: Take Root! is open to educators and youth workers from NYS interested in, or already implementing, garden-based learning. Attendees from organizations are encouraged to bring along at least two other staff and/or volunteers. Up to .5 hours Continuing Education Units may be earned from the training.

Take Root! Training Objectives:

• Promote our garden-based learning resources with a positive youth development focus.
• Bring together CCE and community educators to develop an ability to incorporate gardens into their scope of work, to make gardens projects successful and sustainable, and to facilitate more lead educators on these topics in each region.
• Gather information about local projects to determine and demonstrate effectiveness, as well as better understand areas of improvement.
• Foster community partnerships, coalition building, and linkages to other programs.
• Grow significant youth and adult leadership in local food systems, “green,” and garden-based learning movements.

Take Root! Training Topics:

Session A – Plant a Seed, Inspire Interest. Introduction to garden-based learning; what is it, why is it important (researched based findings), and connecting gardens to all sectors of work. Begin to develop a garden program that promotes positive youth development, opportunities for leadership and community & volunteer participation, and review tips on effective teaching methods. An in-depth overview of CGBL and other resources will be reviewed. Groups new to garden-based learning or groups struggling with community involvement and program structure will particularly benefit from this session.

Session B – Tend the Garden. Develop an intentional, long-term approach to garden-based programs, expand existing programs.  Using a logic model as a tool, we introduce methods to create project sustainability. Groups with an existing garden program hoping to expand and increase project sustainability are a good fit for this session.

Session C – Building Capacity/Train-the-Trainer. Dig deeper than Session B, more extensive information on program and garden sustainability, ecological design, increasing yields and season extension, and building leadership of involved participants, including youth apprentice programs, teaching effectively, and mentoring.  Groups are a fit for this session if they have an existing project underway, have already taken some steps towards enhanced sustainability but want to go further both programmatic ally and ecologically.

Other topics CGBL offers, for which an additional program fee will be required:

• How to construct living sculpture such as sod furniture
• Introduction and intermediate Permaculture
• The garden as a gateway to environmental awareness
• Aquaponics
• Intensive introductions to our curricula, such as Dig Art!, Discovering our Food System, and Seed to Salad

More info on being a partner/host organization –>

View the 2012 Take Root! Training Schedule –>

Stay up to date as new sessions are scheduled, join CGBL on Facebook and subscribe tothe CGBL Blog.