REAL School Gardens
Encyclopedia
REAL School Gardens serves children and educators by supporting elementary school communities as they design, install and sustain outdoor classrooms (gardens). It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Fort Worth, Texas
. REAL stands for the Rainwater Environmental Alliance for Learning.
In North Texas, REAL School Gardens supports 81 schools, ensuring that more than 45,000 children and over 2,700 educators have daily access to nature through school gardens. The organization's goals are to create safe outdoor spaces to engage young children, to use nature to enhance student learning, encourage family and community involvement in schools, and to create vibrant, sharing networks of educators and partners who commit to putting school gardens at the heart of urban neighborhoods.
The organization supports schools for a period of five years in all aspects of managing a school garden program. This support includes professional development for teachers (at least 12 hours annually) as well as guidance about installation topics, such as long- and short-range plans, budget issues, and construction work. The support also includes guidance about maintenance, sustainability and use.
's charitable foundation funds "The Prairie Project," where students in Flower Mound, Texas
, restore a native grassland prairie by cleaning up an industrial dumpsite.
• 1996 - A diverse group of 33 teachers, principals and parents attends the Texas Society for Environmental Restoration Conference. Excited about the concept of environmental education, they continue meeting to support, encourage and learn from each other.
• 1996 - The Rainwater Charitable Foundation http://www.rainwatercharitablefoundation.org/ begins supporting school gardens in the Fort Worth, Texas
area
• 2003 - Stacey Hodge, a landscape designer, leads a project to convert Sam Rosen Elementary School's asphalt courtyard in Fort Worth, Texas
, into a teaching garden. Moved by the garden's impact on the children and the community, she proposes the founding of REAL School Gardens.
• 2003 - The Rainwater Charitable Foundation funds the establishment of REAL School Gardens.
• 2004 - REAL School Gardens supports eight new schools in the design, installation, maintenance and use of school gardens, growing its community to 10 schools.
• 2005 - The REAL School Gardens community expands to include 14 schools in Fort Worth, Texas
and surrounding communities.
• 2007 - REAL School Gardens incorporates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
• 2007 - Jeanne McCarty is recruited from Washington, D.C. to lead the national expansion of REAL School Gardens as its Executive Director. She previously served with the Jane Goodall Institute
's Roots & Shoots program.
• 2008 - 37 schools are committed to creating and using a school garden. With their commitment comes their ongoing participation in and support of the REAL School Gardens community.
• 2008 - Nearly 200 teachers, principals and parents attend a REAL People meeting in North Texas and are inspired by California Secretary of Education Delaine Easton's speech, "A Garden In Every School."
• 2009 - REAL School Gardens website is named winner at national ADDY Awards
.
• 2009 - REAL School Gardens wins Keep Texas Beautiful's Sadie Ray Graff Award for a Civic Organization Engaged in Environmental Education
• 2009 - The organization is awarded a Motorola
Grant to fund a renewable energy project for children.
• 2009 - REAL School Gardens' Co-Founder and Board Member Suzanne "Suzy" Rall Peacock passes away on October 3.
• 2010 - 74 outdoor classrooms at elementary schools in North Texas are participants in the REAL School Gardens network and the organization begins offering standards based professional development for teachers to additional school districts across the U.S.
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
. REAL stands for the Rainwater Environmental Alliance for Learning.
Mission and Purpose
REAL School Gardens cultivates relationships with elementary school communities to create learning gardens that raise hope, spark imaginations and connect children to nature.Programs
REAL School Gardens works with urban schools and communities in the design, installation, and sustainability of school gardens that are used for hands-on learning and to cultivate a deeper connection to nature.In North Texas, REAL School Gardens supports 81 schools, ensuring that more than 45,000 children and over 2,700 educators have daily access to nature through school gardens. The organization's goals are to create safe outdoor spaces to engage young children, to use nature to enhance student learning, encourage family and community involvement in schools, and to create vibrant, sharing networks of educators and partners who commit to putting school gardens at the heart of urban neighborhoods.
The organization supports schools for a period of five years in all aspects of managing a school garden program. This support includes professional development for teachers (at least 12 hours annually) as well as guidance about installation topics, such as long- and short-range plans, budget issues, and construction work. The support also includes guidance about maintenance, sustainability and use.
History
• 1995 - Richard RainwaterRichard Rainwater
-Early life:The son of a wholesale grocer, he grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in mathematics, where he was a member of the Tau chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He was recognized by the national organization in 1996 as Kappa Sigma Man of...
's charitable foundation funds "The Prairie Project," where students in Flower Mound, Texas
Flower Mound, Texas
Flower Mound is a town in Denton and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and a suburb of Fort Worth and Dallas. Its population was 50,702 at the U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 census, and 64,669 at the 2010 Census. The town derives its name from the prominent mound located in the southern...
, restore a native grassland prairie by cleaning up an industrial dumpsite.
• 1996 - A diverse group of 33 teachers, principals and parents attends the Texas Society for Environmental Restoration Conference. Excited about the concept of environmental education, they continue meeting to support, encourage and learn from each other.
• 1996 - The Rainwater Charitable Foundation http://www.rainwatercharitablefoundation.org/ begins supporting school gardens in the Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
area
• 2003 - Stacey Hodge, a landscape designer, leads a project to convert Sam Rosen Elementary School's asphalt courtyard in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, into a teaching garden. Moved by the garden's impact on the children and the community, she proposes the founding of REAL School Gardens.
• 2003 - The Rainwater Charitable Foundation funds the establishment of REAL School Gardens.
• 2004 - REAL School Gardens supports eight new schools in the design, installation, maintenance and use of school gardens, growing its community to 10 schools.
• 2005 - The REAL School Gardens community expands to include 14 schools in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
and surrounding communities.
• 2007 - REAL School Gardens incorporates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
• 2007 - Jeanne McCarty is recruited from Washington, D.C. to lead the national expansion of REAL School Gardens as its Executive Director. She previously served with the Jane Goodall Institute
Jane Goodall Institute
The Jane Goodall Institute is an international wildlife and environment conservation organization with branches in many countries. It was founded in 1977 by English primatologist Dr...
's Roots & Shoots program.
• 2008 - 37 schools are committed to creating and using a school garden. With their commitment comes their ongoing participation in and support of the REAL School Gardens community.
• 2008 - Nearly 200 teachers, principals and parents attend a REAL People meeting in North Texas and are inspired by California Secretary of Education Delaine Easton's speech, "A Garden In Every School."
• 2009 - REAL School Gardens website is named winner at national ADDY Awards
Addy Awards
The ADDY Awards is the world's largest advertising competition with over 50,000 entries annually. Founded in Florida in 1960 it was adopted by the American Advertising Federation, a not-for-profit industry association, as a national competition in 1968....
.
• 2009 - REAL School Gardens wins Keep Texas Beautiful's Sadie Ray Graff Award for a Civic Organization Engaged in Environmental Education
• 2009 - The organization is awarded a Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
Grant to fund a renewable energy project for children.
• 2009 - REAL School Gardens' Co-Founder and Board Member Suzanne "Suzy" Rall Peacock passes away on October 3.
• 2010 - 74 outdoor classrooms at elementary schools in North Texas are participants in the REAL School Gardens network and the organization begins offering standards based professional development for teachers to additional school districts across the U.S.
Uses For School Gardens
- Teaching and learning in all subjects, from math and science to art and music, language arts, reading, writing and social studies
- Counseling students
- Community and family gatherings
- Playing in a natural setting
- Growing healthy food and learning about nutrition