| | | Dig This! | | | | “My second graders said the REAL School Gardens rock activities [from the Professional Development] were the highlight of the whole school year.” - Educator, Sagamore Hill Elementary, Fort Worth ISD |  REAL School Gardens can help you grow successful students! We are excited to announce that beginning in the 2012-2013 school year we will offer educator training to elementary schools across North Texas and beyond. While we remain focused on delivering our core program to our formal school partners in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan area, we intend to grow our mission and impact more teachers and students through expanded professional development services that get results.
Many of you have contacted us for support, and we hear you. For years REAL School Gardens has been looking forward to a time when we could support those of you reaching out for support. That time has arrived! Whether your school already has a garden or if you want to make your schoolyard a high-impact, academic setting, REAL School Gardens will be proud to serve you. | | In Season | | In North Central Texas, vegetable gardeners enjoy a long growing season. Fall is considered to be the best planting time for many vegetable varieties because of abundant rainfall, fewer insect pests and cooler growing conditions. As summer wanes and the fall season approaches, find out how to prepare your garden for cool season vegetables and gather ideas about how to connect garden maintenance with classroom concepts by clicking here. | | REAL People | | Recently, the students in professor Dale Boisso’s Cost-Benefit Analysis at Southern Methodist University conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the academic effectiveness of REAL School Gardens (RSG) learning gardens and the impact on students’ long-term earnings. The results of this study show RSG gardens contribute to higher TAKS pass rates and substantial long-term monetary benefits to students (and, therefore, society in general). Read more about the study here. | | The Movement | |  (International School Grounds Alliance pictured above) “When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I only think of how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.” These words by R. Buckminster Fuller are posted in the REAL School Gardens office. Why? Because school gardens are a beautiful solution. What other academic resource can boost academic achievement, nurture healthy lifestyles, promote pro-social skills and foster environmental stewardship all at once? Join an international movement to improve students’ lives through a more imaginative use of school grounds for teaching and learning. Recent highlights include: | | |