school gardens - fundraising and habitat creation

J* T*

Hi. This is in response to Kevin Webb's questions about a) additional uses of school gardens and b)fundraising resources. It sounds as though your garden may be focused on producing food; and it seems that you have already brainstormed many great ways to use the garden in your school. Some schools choose to accomplish multiple goals by incorporating wildlife-attracting plantings (i.e. a butterfly garden) into the edges or a section of their food garden. Making habitat-creation at least a part of one's school gardening efforts  can  further open the doors to students' studies and understanding of local plants and wildlife; habitat-creation is also a project that allows students to make a positive contribution to their environment at the local level. Are you familiar with  National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitats program? This program encourages school communities to create wildlife habitat on their schoolgrounds, and to incorporate this habitat into their curriculum. We have already certified close to 1100 official Schoolyard Habitats sites across the country. The educators that we've worked with enjoy using their Schoolyard Habitats space as an outdoor classroom, and as a tool with which to teach hands-on lessons across the disciplines. If you would like to learn more, you can read about the program on our website at www.nwf.org/habitats/schoolyard  
You also asked about fundraising resources; for that I can direct you to a list we've compiled at www.nwf.org/habitats/schoolyard/basics/fundraising.cfm 
Best of luck with your work,
Julie Totaro
Schoolyard Habitats Program Coordinator
National Wildlife Federation
totaro@nwf.org

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