SHIP stories
In its first two years, the Statewide Health
Improvement Program (SHIP) worked with
more than 360 schools and 22 school
districts, serving more than 200,000
students, to increasing access to local
produce.
Edina school garden connects core
educational concepts and lifelong
skills
In 2010, Edina’s Highlands Elementary started a
schoolyard garden, with the help of the Statewide
Health Improvement Program. Committed to providing
students outdoor learning environments, the schoolyard
garden provided a foundation from which classrooms
participated in planting, harvesting and studying plant
life. In 2011, Highlands Elementary expanded that
commitment and launched a summer pilot program to
test how a garden could increase healthy eating by
expanding hands-on learning opportunities.
Students loved it. From studying mathematics by
predicting the growth of spinach and peas to learning
about American Indian traditions by growing sunflowers
and corn, the summer program was hit. Parents and
teachers were impressed with how much students
benefited from working in the garden.
With the success of the pilot, they wanted to expand
the effort into a comprehensive edible schoolyard
garden program during the summer that incorporated
growing, cooking and curriculum, offered through
Edina Community Education. But how? Cue: Ms. Caitlin
The Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) works to
improve health through better nutrition, increased physical activity
and decreased commercial tobacco use and exposure. Find out
more at www.health.state.mn.us/ship
Williams, Highlands Elementary teacher extraordinaire
and gardening aficionada.
Ms. Williams had returned recently from the Edible
Schoolyard Academy in Berkeley. She had many ideas
and hopes for an educational gardening program and
implemented many of them drawing from her learning
experience at the academy.
Wrapping up its first year, the program has successfully
taught students how food gets from garden to table,
explore the outdoors and learn cooking skills (among
many more). “Being in an outdoor learning setting has
given students inquiry skills,” commented Ms. Williams,
“they learned how to observe, investigate, propose a
solution and solve a problem.”
As a parent and supporter of Ms. William’s Edible
Schoolyard camp, Jen Livingston commented, “In just
one growing season, so many students have had the
opportunity to grow and taste healthy food. It is truly
making a difference for many kids.” Thanks to the
Statewide Health Improvement Program, hundreds
of kids like Ms. Livingston’s are learning lifelong skills
like gardening and cooking while incorporating core
educational concepts.
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11/2012