STATE-OF-THE-ART LEARNING GARDEN TO ENGAGE FORT WORTH STUDENTS IN SCIENCE, MATH AND ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

10/21/2011 1:59:00 AM

October 21, 2011

MEDIA CONTACT: Director of Partnerships and Programming - Matt Hackler  (817) 348-8102

Members of the media are invited to attend a 6:00 p.m. announcement ceremony on Friday, October 21, 2011 at East Handley Elementary School, 2617 Mims Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76112

STATE-OF-THE-ART LEARNING GARDEN TO ENGAGE FORT WORTH STUDENTS IN SCIENCE, MATH AND ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - The children of East Handley Elementary School in Fort Worth are in for an exciting surprise. On October 21, the school’s Fall Carnival will provide the setting for a big announcement as representatives from the school, REAL School Gardens, and Chesapeake Energy Corporation will share the news that a new school garden will be growing on campus in the coming months. Through a dramatic “reveal” and with the help of Chesapeake Charlie, the company’s unofficial mascot, East Handley’s students will kick off their garden planning process. Once it is installed, East Handley’s school garden will provide a space for boosting student achievement in critical subjects like science and math while also providing opportunities for students to engage in hands-on lessons across the curriculum.

East Handley was chosen for a partnership with REAL School Gardens after a competitive application process in which the school community truly shined. But it took the leadership support of Chesapeake to make the partnership a reality. “Our learning gardens simply would not happen without support from corporations like Chesapeake,” said Jeanne McCarty, REAL School Gardens Executive Director. “Through their depth of investment, the company has proven itself a leader in providing innovative educational opportunities to high-poverty schools. This marks the tenth REAL school garden supported by Chesapeake.”

The garden, which will be installed in the spring, will contain a number of key learning features including an organic vegetable garden, wildlife habitats, earth science station and more. Through the school’s three-year partnership with REAL School Gardens, its educators will receive training and resources to help them use the garden not only to boost academic achievement but also to nurture their students’ social skills, environmental stewardship and healthy development. The garden will be designed by the school community at a “Design and Dine” event in December. The community will come together to install the garden in February.

“Nature provides an enormous opportunity in which to learn about a variety of subjects,” said Heather Scoggins, Chesapeake’s Community Relations Supervisor. “Chesapeake is very pleased to give these children an opportunity to discover not only the science of plant life but the life principles taught by planting, watering and reaping the harvest. We believe these children and their parents will be impacted for a lifetime because of this garden.”

ABOUT REAL SCHOOL GARDENS

REAL School Gardens partners with high-poverty elementary schools to create learning gardens where children thrive. We support the design and installations of school gardens, train teachers to use them to improve children’s learning and build community around them to nurture support for urban schools. When teachers take learning outdoors, children achieve greater success in school by becoming more engaged learners and more effective team members. They are also introduced to healthy foods, moderate physical activity and environmental stewardship – all building blocks for healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Currently, REAL School Gardens works with 81 elementary schools in five urban school districts in North Texas, reaching more than 45,000 children and 2,800 educators. REAL School Gardens is growing and plans to reach more schools across the country in the coming year.

Read more about Chesapeake Energy's support of REAL School Gardens here.

Download REAL School Gardens - East Handley Press Release pdf version