Called by Jessica Romer from Denver Urban Gardens (DUG)
On Mon. 8/16, 8 a.m., at Café Caliente coffee shop.
Attendees: Jessica Romer, DUG; Elizabeth Vigil, Edison Teacher,; Jennifer Wolf, adult Green Team Wellness Coordinator; Michel Brossmer, PTA president; Betsey Daniels, Edison Garden volunteer and neighbor; Larry Volkening, Edison Garden leader and neighbor; Diane Graves, adult Green Team; Julie Buchanan, adult Green Team Leader; Melissa Knopper and Ben Jansen, student Green Team Leaders.Goal: To plan DUG-related garden programs before school starts.
Discussion:
Elizabeth Vigil and Diane Graves suggested ways to incorporate the garden into the back to school Lawn Party. The group agreed to include a sign-up sheet at the Green Team table for new families that would like a garden plot. Larry Volkening suggested adding some literature from DUG, how to sign up for a plot, garden fees, etc. to the Green Team table. Larry also suggested raffling off baskets of fresh veggies to raise awareness of the garden.
The group discussed the pros and cons of having a farmer's market at Edison. This would be a DUG and Slow Foods program to promote healthy foods. It could be a fundraiser for the Green Team, also, Jessica said, but most schools only break even.
Group members said they did not have a leader for the market yet, and mentioned it would be quite time consuming. Michel Brossmer suggested adding it as an after-school enrichment program for next fall. The market group could meet on Thursdays, which is the DUG pick-up day for produce. Melissa suggested having just one market day this year, as a trial run, possibly around fall festival. But the group agreed to only do that if a motivated leader comes forward.
Jessica Romer suggested folding a student garden club into the student Green Team and making it part of their regular meetings to go out into the garden and help with weeds, etc. Ben Jansen and Melissa Knopper agreed that would be a good idea and said they would incorporate a garden club into their Tuesday meetings. Julie Buchanan said last year the Green Team students liked their role as "Garden Ambassadors."
The group discussed the need for a parent liaison to coordinate garden to classroom programs with teachers at Edison. The previous coordinator, Gretchen Wilson, is no longer available to fill this role. Julie said the kindergarten teachers loved doing a "Five Senses" garden tour with Gretchen last year and would like to do it again. Elizabeth Vigil, an Edison teacher, will help coordinate also. Michel Brossmer said this could be considered a special annual field trip for the kindergarteners.
Julie said they are looking for ways to build green regular activities into the school calendar to make the Green Team sustainable. "Then, it becomes almost like a tradition and it lives beyond us," she said.
Melissa mentioned Colorado Proud School Lunch Day is coming up on Sept. 8th. This is an annual event sponsored by DPS and Slow Food Denver. Edison participated last year too. Kids help pick garden produce, such as carrots, zucchini and tomatoes. Then they wash it and help make some pasta salad to serve in the cafeteria during lunchtime. Melissa said Jeff Oakley, an Edison parent, chef and owner of Bang! Restaurant on 32nd Ave., has agreed to do this cooking demo.
A parent coordinator is still not in place for CO Proud Lunch Day, however. Someone needs to communicate with the lunchroom staff, line up students, etc. Jessica estimated we will need a total of 5 or 6 parent/community volunteers to help with this project. Michel said she would include this in the PTA's list of urgent volunteer needs, and she will also try to get it on the school's master calendar of events. Melissa said she would also put a message on the garden group's e-mail list.
Jessica explained DPS also has a new program called Garden to Cafeteria, which involves taking kids into the garden to harvest produce, wash it and give it to the lunchroom staff for use in the salad bar. Jessica said the group can decide if they want to do this just one time or more, depending on what is available in the garden. Volunteers are also needed for this program. Larry and Betsey said they would help, but felt parents should coordinate it. Jessica said training takes place this week for this program, but she can catch us up later if volunteers are not in place yet.
The group discussed how the three-year Green Up Our Schools grant listed specific goals for the Green Team. This is the third year and this year's focus is supposed to be on greening up the cafeteria (already underway last year) and promoting healthy foods, Diane said. The group discussed a desire for composting in the cafeteria this year, and planned to check with Jennifer Draper Carson, who had been looking into that. Melissa said Green Team kids will help monitor the new re-usable silverware in the cafeteria during lunch, after their first meeting Sept. 7th.
In conclusion, the group agreed to participate in the following DUG garden programs:
- CO Proud School Lunch Day on Sept. 8th
- Garden to Cafeteria Program (one time this year)
- Garden Club (as part of regular Green Team meetings)
- Kindergarten Five Senses field trip
The group also chose a date for the 9News Health fair: Fri. Nov. 5th. Jennifer said there will be a planning day Sept. 22nd, where volunteers choose the different booths for the event. She is looking for a co- coordinator and several parent volunteers to help produce this large, day-long event. Student Green Team members will staff the booths and educate their classmates during the health fair.
Michel, here are our volunteer needs:
- URGENT: Edison Garden teacher liaison: We need a parent or community garden volunteer to communicate with teachers and encourage them to bring their classrooms out to the garden. Denver Urban Gardens already has some ready-made garden curriculum guides available. We need to get them in the hands of teachers and use them. Sporadic need, maybe 2-5 hours per month or less. Would be during school hours.
- URGENT: CO Proud School Lunch Day: We need 5 or 6 parents to supervise harvesting and cooking pasta salad before and during lunch. Time commitment: about four hours in the AM. One time event on Wed. Sept. 8th.
- Garden to Cafeteria Program: We need a parent or community garden volunteer to communicate with lunch room staff, garden leaders and teachers to plan this special harvest day. Kids will pick produce, wash it and give it to the lunchroom staff for the salad bar. This will take about four hours in the AM during school. One time event.
- Five Senses Tour: We need 4 or 5 parents to help supervise as the kindergarten classes take a special field trip into the garden. Time commitment: about two hours or less, during school hours. One time event.
- 9News Health Fair Co-Coordinator and 6-8 parent/community volunteers: The co-coordinator would help Jennifer Wolf plan and organize this large all-day event, set for Friday, Nov. 5. Coordinator would help pick booths on Sept. 22, attend training sessions and planning meetings, and be available on Nov. 5th during school hours to run the fair. Parent volunteers would help supervise during the day of the fair. One time event.
