Source: UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
USU FASL HANDS IN THE GARDEN PROGRAM
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1027573
Grant No.
2021-70026-35912
Cumulative Award Amt.
$224,973.00
Proposal No.
2021-08083
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2021
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2025
Grant Year
2021
Program Code
[FASIP]- Food Agriculture Service Implementation Project
Recipient Organization
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
LOGAN,UT 84322
Performing Department
Extension Youth Programs
Non Technical Summary
The USU FASL Hands in the Garden Program will increase food preservation, propagation, andsecurity for youth and families in communities throughout Utah. USU Extension faculty, partnerschools, and community groups will develop and implement a gardening service learning programby using established school and community gardens as outdoor classrooms. Agricultural expertswill work with local teachers, afterschool groups, and 4-H clubs to design gardening plans tailoredto local climate, culture, and community needs. USU Extension 4-H coordinators, classroomteachers, afterschool educators, and volunteers will work directly with youth to establish gardeningand service-learning plans. Program staff will use established garden spaces to teach specificgardening techniques and principles, such as desert gardening, urban gardening, traditional Navajocrops, and intergenerational gardening. Crops will be used in school lunch programs and as part ofoutreach classes on food preservation, nutrition, and meal planning. We will provide training andmentorship opportunities for youth mentors and use the youth-teaching-youth model to provideoutreach to project cohorts through the state. Youth will give presentations at an annual gardensymposium. We will establish a statewide gardening network through participants will receivetraining and opportunities to collaborate. FASLP funding will be used to adapt established gardens,include service learning, and connect the gardens to school lunch programs and educationaloutreach. The USU FASL Hands in the Garden Program is sustainable through established gardensand programming.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
8061499302060%
7031499302010%
9031499302030%
Knowledge Area
703 - Nutrition Education and Behavior; 806 - Youth Development; 903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
1499 - Vegetables, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
Goal 1: Develop Garden Service-Learning programs with a minimum of three area project sites working with 12 schools and 6 outreach counties. We will work with school day and afterschool educators from partnering school sites to develop individualized, school-based garden service learning programs catered to individual climate, culture, and communities. Each partner garden will focus on specific garden techniques and methodologies.Goal 2:Develop the Utah Youth and School Garden Network. This network will enable collaboration among formal and informal educators incorporating school and community based gardens in education.Goal 3: Develop an Educational Garden Network Directory that represents at least 20 members, including school based formal and informal education.Goal 4: Provide educator training in all aspects of school gardening including connecting with local producers for farm to school efforts.Goal 5: Conductan annual Garden Symposium where each garden community can gain expertise and showcase garden methods and tactics.Goal 6: Utilize the existing "Teens Reaching Youth" annual training event to engage 40 teens to become effective teachers in the area of food and agriculture service learning. These teens will return to their communities and be successful in implementing a service-learning project.
Project Methods
Food and Agriculture Service-Learning Program TeamThe first step to realizing the goals and outcomes listed in the previous section is to develop a working group that will further refine these goals and work on an action plan that will lead to the desired outcomes. Currently, team members are aware of each other's work and occasionally collaborate on projects. By contrast, organizing a dedicated working group and inviting all to share in communication will enable more frequent and effective collaboration. In addition to our lead team, many of our team members are educators and Extension coordinators. Plant scientists or horticulturists from each region will provide expertise to school and community teams.Due to the physical distance between team members, many team meetings will be conducted using Zoom. As appropriate, we will include stakeholders in these meetings to increase engagement with and awareness of the program, as well as to learn of new community resources and needs.Educator TrainingEducator training is essential to the success of the program. Training will target K-12 educators as well as those who work in afterschool and summer programs. Some school gardens use out-of-school time and occasionally require additional staff to assist with the school garden effort and allow for the time needed to care for the garden during the summer months. Existing relationships with the Utah Afterschool Network (UAN) will also be used to reach after schoolproviders who may be gardening with youth. In 2020, UAN training will be virtual due to COVID19. We have already begun discussions with them on sending educator kits and holding a training series as part of the UAN annual conference. Recognizing that educators have different skills and instruction needs are varied, training will help educators develop skills on the basics of gardening, connections to classroom learning, strategies to incorporate food from the garden, and local producers into the school cafeteria, preserving food, accessing Extension resources available locally, and garden sustainability. These workshops will draw on expertise of the FASLP team as well as content experts in a variety of disciplines and successful teachers.Teens Reaching Youth FASLP TrainingIn 2008, USU Extension 4-H introduced the 4-H Teens Reaching Youth (TRY) program to Utah. The TRY program is a leadership program that engages teens as teachers to other youth. Participants join TRY teams of 2-4 youth and at least 1 adult leader. TRY incorporates the three 4-H Mission Mandates: science, healthy living, and service. To this end, the program focuses on encouraging healthy lifestyles in both teens and the children they mentor. Each TRY team commits to teach at least six hours of instruction to at least 15 youth during the year. Hours can be met all at once in a day camp or spread over several weeks.Learn, Grow, Eat, and Go TrainingBeginning in 2008, Utah 4-H began an annual training for healthy living that focused on the curriculum developed by Texas A&M faculty; Junior Master Gardener: Learn, Grow, Eat and Go (LGEG). LGEG grows good kids through an interdisciplinary program combining academic achievement, gardening, nutrient-dense food experiences, physical activity, and school & family engagement5.Each year youth from around the state attend a two-day training retreat to learn the curriculum and participate in a service-learning project to get the USDA People's Garden at Thanksgiving Point ready for the growing season. Through this activity, youth learn about soil preparation, planting, fertilization, and garden bed design. Youth then engage other youth in their communities in the LGEG activities. Many of these communities, in turn, have school and community gardens in which the youth continue their work; while in other cases, youth have returned to start new gardens in their communities.The 2021 training will have an emphasis on food and agriculture service learning, with approximately 100 participants in the 4-H TRY Team training. Plans to invite additional youth who may be interested in FASLP are included. An estimated 30 teens will commit to be more involved in the FASLP program. Please see Table 2 at the end of the project narrative for further details.Program evaluation will be facilitated through the expertise of USU Extension data and evaluation experts. This will include evaluation of skills, knowledge and behavior changes at pilot programs, as well as process evaluation of the formation and management of the Network and evaluation of workshop participants to determine knowledge learned, skills developed, and possible changes in attitude towards food and agriculture service learning. Specifically, the overarching goal of the evaluation framework is to (a) facilitate continuous program improvement via formative evaluation, and (b) assess program outcomes and impact via summative evaluation. Therefore, the evaluation is divided into two components to monitor program fidelity and outcomes: Part 1 - Formative Evaluation, and Part 2 - Summative EvaluationThe evaluation plan will follow the Targeting Outcomes of Programs to monitor program implementation and fidelity (Part 1), and the Theory of Planned Behavior to assess program outcomes (Part 2). Both models were selected due to their proven robustness; the Targeting Outcomes of Programs (TOP) is one of the most common evaluation frameworks in extension education programs, and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is recognized as a highly effective model of change across several social science specializations.G. Self-SustainabilityMost schools and partner sites have active gardens with irrigation and other supports necessary for success. FASLP grant funding will be used to connect the gardens with the school lunch program and increase community knowledge of use and preservation of food. Program funding will help participants improve soil quality, understand methods of food preservation, develop a garden-to-lunch pipeline, and receive training to continue the program long after the federal funding is expended. Additionally, funds will be provided to educators for training workshops and collaboration.

Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:For this time period the target audience was expanded from the original audience of youth in Washington, San Juan, Emery, Salt Lake and Davis counties to include youth in Tooele and Box Elder counties. Youth participated in Service Learning Gardening programs designed to increase food security and understanding of food sources and propogation. The participating population included traditional 4-H clubs and camps as well as afterschool youth. Total youth participation for this time period was 516, with participants primarily in grades K-8. We utilized near-peer mentors from grades 9-12, including implementing Growing Leaders, a program designed to teach high school age youth gardening and food service learning principles, and then have them teach through clubs, camps and afterschool programs in their local communities. Changes/Problems:The major problems we have faced continue to be trickle-down problems from the COVID shutdown. Once things opened back up we had a difficult time getting participants for large gatherings. We pivoded our program so that rather than bringing together large groups, we created an online shared space and encouage use of a common curriculum of activities so that they could share common ground and develop best practices across the state. We also provided "after the harvest" activities to help youth not only learn to grow food, but to use it nutritiously. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have offered training and professional develop to both youth and adults. Training on Service Learning in the Garden has been offered to both public teachers as part of the UtSTA conference and to informal educators as part of UAN JumpStart and Recharge conferences over the last two years. To date a total of 61 teachers and188 informal educators have received this training in addition to the science in the garden training mentioned in the previous section. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated through reports to participaing schools and community organizations. Reports have also been provided to Utah Legislators and the Utah State Board of Education through our Informal Science Education Enhancement program. In 2023 an online workshop was given on our methodology through the Junior Master Gardeners leaders conference. In 2023 a presentation was also given at the National Service Learning Conference. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are at the end of our grant cycle but are requesting a no cost extension to continue this work with our developed curriculum and professional development. We are offering supplies, curriculum and support for up to 20 more schools and community groups to participate in our programming. We will continue to offer professional development to both formal and informal educators.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: During this time period we have reached schools and informal education programs in Salt Lake, Davis, San Juan, Emery, Juab Washington, Box Elder and Tooele counties, including youth participants from 14 schools. Additionally we have youth and mentors from Sevier, Wasatch and Tooele counties participating moving forward. We have partnered with Roots Charter High school to develop near-peer mentoring from non-traditional populations. Goal 2: We have developed the Utah Youth and School Garden Network with participating schools and informal education programs. The group continues to grow, with participation increasing the further removed from COVID we become. There are currently 26 school/organization representatives in our groups. Goal 3: We have a garden directory but it has not been updated in the last year. If an extension is granted one of the primary areas of focus will be an update and dissemination of this directory. Goal 4: We have provided training for educators on school gardening through the Utah science teacher's association, and the Utah Informal Science Education Enhancement program. We have a training on the science of gardening and literacy that has been particularly well received by elementary educators. To date, 67 teachers have been trained on this, and 94 informal educators. Goal 5: Because this grant was initiated during COVID, we were not able to host the Symposium in the format originally proposed. We hoped to move back to that format in 2022 and 2023, but people were slow to move back to traveling to events. Instead, we chose to take the symposium to the participants by developing and standardizing curriculum activities for youth to participate in. Goal 6: The flagship of our Teens Reaching Youth program is our statewide agriscience ambassadors. We had 6 agriscience ambassadors last year, and have 7 this fiscal year. They have trained 46 youth to lead other youth in the current fiscal year.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

    Outputs
    Target Audience:We reached youth in six communities: Castledale, Utah: Castledale is a small, rural community. 12 k-12 students from a title I school participated in our Junior Master Gardener program. They learned about plant production, soil, and food production . 4 volunteers were also trained in a briefing before each meeting. Food produced was used for healthy snacks as part of out of schooltime programs. Excess was used in the local food bank. Green River, Utah: This is also a small, rural community. 47 k-12 youth participated (This is 40% of school children from the area). Voluntters were also trained. and youth participated in a 14 week program. Food was used as part of out of school time healthy snacks, with excess produce provided to the local food pantry. Kaysville, Utah: Kaysville is a suburban community. 20 K-12 youth participated in a 14 week program focused on garden development, production, and "after the harvest" food production using garden produce. Production was small this year as much of focus was on garden development. Produce was used for out of school snackes. Hurricane, Utah: 27 K-12 youth from low income communities participate in a 14 week spring/summer program, and then a 12 week fall program.We are also working with my county commissioners to find a location to start a local community garden that will have an emphasis on teaching youth and will run under a Junior Master Gardener program.In addition to school gardens we heldfarm field days in my county where we teach 2,300 4th grade youth about where their food comes from and what a farm looks like. I am not sure if you need more information on that, if you do let me know and I can get you more pictures and information on what that looks like. San Juan County, Utah: This is a very rural county of Utah with many members of the Navajo nation participating. In partnership with the Farm2Fork program, 110 youth participated in Junior Master Gardening program through the Farm2Fork Community Gardens.Participants had the opportunity to explore what they were learning in there work books by having an hour of gardening activities each week. We have had a few of our youth gardeners take up gardening in their own homes. We have increased in parent involvement with the garden space as well. We are increasing he number of youth who participate in this program every year. We offered 1 training to volunteers working withing youth gardeners. All of our volunteers were registered through the 4h,Zsuite system and completed their youth training. We also help a general training to discuss how to be involved and work specifically with ntive American youth. Much of the cultural teaching methods are different from general practice teaching methods. Salt Lake county has worked with 22 youth in afterschool programming on 16 weeks of urban gardening . They have also done "After the Harvest" classes with 22 youth on healthy use of crops in food preparation. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided training and professional development to 18 adults as volunteers and afterschool instructors. We are in the process of developing a formal school garden training process with the state board of education. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We are still in the process of analyzing survey evaluations. When complete, this information will be disseminated in reposts to participating school entities, county commisioners, state board of education, and in professional p ublications. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Using data from the evalutations, we plan to adapt last year's program model and continue to hold the clubs. We will offer training for both formal and informal educators, advertised through state school programs.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: We developed Garden service learning programs in six area project sites with 9 schools in six counties. We have made strong progress toward working with afterschool programs. We have some work to do to make inroads within the school day. These programs are catered to the individual climate , culture and communities. Goal 2: We have begun development of the Utah Youth and School Garden Network, with participating programs sharing garden information. We will begin Learning community monthly meetings online in January 2023. Goal 3: Our educational Garden Network Directory currently has 14 members. We are continuing to promote this through our informal education program and are confident that we will have at least 20 members by early spring. Goal 4: We are providing educator training on gardening in all six counties reached with this grant. We are working with the state board of education to provide further training to schools throughout the state. Goal 5: Due to a covid surge at the time of the planned symposium, we had to adapt this to an online version. We will hold a full symposium this spring. Goal 6: We trained our youth near-peer mentors in March. Tod date, 47 near peer mentores have presented gardening camps and clubs to 1 86 youth.

    Publications