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	making a difference For many children growing up in urban communities, connecting with nature means looking out a window. They’re missing out on what research tells us -- that active, outdoor learning can help them be smarter, happier and healthier. Introducing communities to REAL School Gardens requires our continued hard work, but we’re proud of the profound differences we’re seeing in children’s lives. They’re learning science and math and everything else. They’re feeding their families and neighbors with vegetables they planted. They’re growing into more environmentally conscious citizens. Most of all, their enthusiastic response to outdoor learning is transforming the way teachers teach. Entire communities are taking notice, getting involved. Program Goals Expand all Help elementary schools create, support and sustain school gardens so children connect with nature in engaging, nurturing and inspirational ways. REAL School Gardens and our partners are increasing children’s access to wild, natural green spaces. * To date, we support school gardens (outdoor classrooms) in 81 schools in North Texas. * More than 45,000 children now have daily access to nature through school gardens. Children are interacting with safe, outdoor spaces and developing a sense of connectedness with nature. Encourage the use of school gardens to support children's learning of skills, processes and content while immersing them in the natural world. With our partners, we’re making teaching outside second nature. By removing barriers, we’ve: * Ensured that more than 2,700 educators in North Texas have daily access to the school gardens we support; * Presented approximately 1,950 contact hours of professional development to educators in North Texas—all focused on teaching and learning in the garden; and * Provided at least 170 hours of direct, hands-on learning in the garden to about 4,500 students while modeling lessons for over 200 educators in North Texas. As a result of these efforts, teachers and schools have demonstrated that the model works. * A clear-cut majority of educators attending our professional development days in Texas report a strong increase in both their knowledge of outdoor-classroom topics and their likelihood of using the outdoors to teach. * Parents say they see visible improvement in their children’s academic, personal and social development. * Every day we are moved by stories from parents, teachers and children. We see firsthand how children are transformed by watching life cycles of ladybugs and tasting fresh peas from the garden. Foster a cooperative spirit among schools, families and the surrounding community through involvement with school gardens. Once a school decides to create a garden, they invite the entire community to participate in its design, installation, maintenance and use. * Parents and community members bring much-needed skills and expertise during the design and installation phases. * Master gardeners, neighbors and others come to celebrate a new garden installation and continue to volunteer throughout the year. * Youth engaged in service learning ensure stewardship of the gardens throughout the summer. Click here to read how. * Schools report increases in the number of parents who volunteer at their children’s schools. * With the school garden as a gathering place, schools are becoming the center of the community again and inspiring neighborhood pride. Create a vibrant, sharing network of educators and partners committed to putting school gardens at the heart of the urban neighborhood. * REAL People meetings in North Texas draw 150-200 school garden supporters from throughout the region. * 88% of participating schools are engaging at least one community partner. * Schools are growing more environmentally aware in all of their practices, using rainwater catchment, solar features and recycled materials. For the children we serve — those who are growing up in urban communities with less access to the natural world–school gardens raise hope, spark imagination and connect them to nature. Children are learning to be smarter, happier and healthier — in the outdoors.