Gardens are more fun with chickens!

Remember us?
As a former student intern, you were part of the University of Arizona (UA) School Garden Workshop (SGW) connecting Tucson schools and educators. This was a unique opportunity to participate in the school garden movement. As when you were an intern, UA student interns are matched with school garden placement sites where they support the installation, development and maintenance of a garden program. 

What's new!
The construction of Sprouts House, a living laboratory and school garden training center at 415 N. Mountain Avenue has begun. The property is owned by UA and is right next to Mansfeld Middle School, a 5 minute walk from the ENR2 building on campus, where the SGW course is taught. The space will become the garden and sustainability living laboratory for the UA workshop course and Mansfeld Middle School. It includes a commercial kitchen and a professional development training site for PK-12 teachers.

Sprouts House will serve as a new, expanded central hub for the SGW and will be the home of a class of 50-60 UA undergraduate and graduate students each semester who, through a formal course, earn grades and university-required engagement credit for their participation. This provides the opportunity for younger students to learn in a school garden on a weekly basis. PK-12 students have the added benefit of working side by side with university students, as when you were here, modeling a strong work ethic, academic achievement, and service to the community. 

How you can help!
A chicken coop is often the most fun part of the garden! Chickens are nature’s pest control experts, skilled composters and adaptable animal husbandry teachers. Their routine scratching and pecking activities aerate the soil, helping to loosen it and encourage better plant root development. This gentle landscaping can naturally enhance the appearance and fertility of our gardens. And don't forget the nutritious eggs they provide!

Please consider a gift to help us install a chicken coop at Sprouts House. If you enjoyed the class, help us bring an even better experience to students who are following your lead!

More about SGW and Sprouts House
SGW serves ~70 school gardens across the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD), providing sustainability enrichment for approximately 40,000 PK-12 students. Across the 70+ schools supported by the SGW, over 85% of the students qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Meal Program. The heartbeat of the SGW internship course where +/-100 UA undergraduate and graduate student interns per year are trained and provide approximately 10,000 hours of TUSD school garden support. 

SGW currently has school gardens in several elementary schools that feed Mansfeld Middle and at Tucson High, where a majority of students from Mansfeld attend high school. Sprouts House will provide the missing link between the PK-5 and 9-12 garden programs, enabling students to continue their education and involvement in the school garden program throughout PK-12. Providing this kind of continuity is of particular importance for students in middle schools as research has shown these years can be particularly challenging for both developmental and educational outcomes. Having Sprouts House adjacent to Mansfeld, a STEM magnet, will provide students with access to quality educational experiences involving the gardens and opportunities to engage with STEM in a meaningful hands-on way. 

As a training center, Sprouts House will provide PK-12 and university students as well as PK-12 educators will have the opportunity to engage in meaningful learning and professional development that incorporates academic skills in a real-world context. 

Visit our website at: schoolgardens.arizona.edu
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