Volunteer for the School Garden Project!

Do you like working with kids, being outdoors, and gardening? Then we've got just the volunteer opportunity for you!


How to become an SGP volunteer:

Volunteer on weekdays:

Teaching kids in the garden: Our Site Coordinator works up to ten hours a week during the school day teaching kids in the school gardens at our partner schools. Because outdoor education works best in smaller groups than current class sizes, our Site Coordinator usually teaches gardening by taking a small group outside while the teacher remains in the classroom with the rest of the class. We would like to have one to three volunteers teach gardening with our Site Coordinator at a partner school, taking a whole class and their teacher out to the garden and splitting the class up into 2-4 smaller groups. This way, teachers become more involved and invested in the garden and also gain knowledge and skills, enabling them to integrate the garden into the curriculum and to continue teaching gardening in the future even without help from SGP. In addition, more kids get to work in the garden more often and with more instruction and we keep up better with the gardening work. Some of our Partner Schools also have an after-school gardening program, which you can help out with.


Other weekday volunteer opportunities: We also need volunteers with digital cameras to come out and take photos of the kids working in the gardens, we need volunteers with pick-up trucks to haul donated garden materials to schools for us, and we need volunteers with tools and construction experience to help us build compost bins.

 

Volunteer on weekends:

Work parties: We sponsor weekend work parties at our partner schools so that adults can do some of the heavier or more time-consuming garden work that kids aren’t able to do during or after school. Kids are always welcome at our work parties.

SGP booth at community events: We also need volunteers on weekends to staff our booth at events that participate in about four times a year. You can help us hand out newsletters, recruit volunteers, get people to add their names to our mailing list, and do a fun activity like planting or crop identification, depending on the season.

 

Volunteer in the evening:

Mailing parties: We have evening mailing parties about 4 times a year where we can use help with sticking stamps and labels and stuffing envelopes.

Meetings: Come to meetings and help us plan fundraising activities such as our May benefit which includes a buffet dinner, silent auction, kids activities, and live music.

 

Volunteer your expertise:

Irrigation systems: We need volunteers with expertise in irrigation systems to help us design and install automated drip irrigation in school gardens.

Garden ponds: We also need volunteers with expertise in pond maintenance to help us make our existing garden ponds more functional and sustainable.


Partner Schools Where We Work:

Eugene 4J District:

Chavez/Family School: 1510 West 14th Ave., 491 students K-5

This is actually two schools in the same building: Cesar Chavez and Family School (an alternative school), located across the creek behind the Albertson’s at 18th and Chambers. They share a new garden in the courtyard that was put in with their new building in 2004, but the Family School had a garden for many years before that. They also have a native plant area, an Earth Tub, and a large new garden shed.


River Road School: 120 West Hilliard Lane, 314 students K-5

This school is also known as El Camino del Rio, since it is a bilingual Spanish school. It is located just off River Road near the Goodwill Store. River Road has a very large school garden with an orchard, seating area, native plant area, many raised beds, new compost bin, and an Earth Tub. The garden is used 4 days a week by their after-school program, which our Site Coordinator teaches. We have helped with their gardening program since it’s beginning in 2002.
Ridgeline Montessori Charter School: 2855 Lincoln, 220 students K-8
This school is located in the old Willard School building behind the Rite-Aid at 29th and Willamette. Their garden beds are located on a slope just outside the back doors to their classrooms, so each classroom has its own beds and compost bin.


Bethel School District:

Clear Lake School: 4646 Barger Dr, 388 students K-5

This school is located behind the Bethel District Administration Building near Barger and Beltline. Their small garden is located in a central courtyard surrounded by the school building. It includes raspberries, several raised beds, a compost bin, and a small garden shed.


Springfield School District:

Goshen School: 34020 B St, Goshen, 94 students K-8

The only school in Goshen, it is part of the Springfield School District. You can see Goshen School from I-5. It is a small school with only 4 classes, so all of them are involved in caring for this very large garden which contains 7 large raised beds on the flat ground, 3 huge terraced beds made by the older students, an orchard, a greenhouse, rabbit hutches, 3 ponds, and a tool shed. We have worked with Goshen School since 2001.


Walterville School: 40589 McKenzie Hwy, Walterville, 171 students K-8

The only school in Walterville, it is also part of the Springfield School District. You can see Walterville School from Highway 126 east of Thurston. Their medium-sized garden has a deer fence, tool shed, large pond and waterfall, some fruit trees, large worm bins, and a roofed compost bin. Most of the classes participate in the garden. We have worked here since we helped them build the garden in 2003.


Brattain School: 425 10th St, 252 students K-5

This school is located near downtown Springfield. The Brattain garden is spread out over the whole schoolyard and includes lots of flowers, some vegetables, and a new tool shed. We work here with an after-school program rather than during the school day.


Crow-Applegate-Lorane District:

Applegate School: 85955 Territorial Rd Dr, K-5

This school is located in Crow, west of Eugene. We will be working in collaboration with the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition helping them to start a new garden in their courtyard. The Food Coalition is leading a district-wide program getting local organic foods into the cafeterias and the curriculum.

Member Schools:

SGP staff does not have time to coordinate volunteers at our Member Schools, but if you are an organized and self-motivated individual, we can give you the teacher contact information so that you can arrange on your own to volunteer at one of these Member Schools.


Charlamagne Schools (Eugene 4-J School District, K-5)
Cottage Grove High School (South Lane District, 9-12)
Creswell High School (Creswell School District, 9-12)Danebo School (Bethel School District, K-5)                 
Eastside School (Eugene 4-J School District, K-5)
Edgewood School (Eugene 4-J School District, K-5)
Edison School (Eugene 4-J School District, K-5)
Gilham School (Eugene 4-J School District, K-5)
Head Start of Lane County (Preschool program)
Lane Community College (public college in Eugene)
Lost Valley Educational Center (nonprofit)
Meadow View School (Bethel School District, K-8)
Oak Hill School (private school in Eugene, K-12)
O’Hara Catholic School (private school in Eugene, K-8)
Unity School (private school in Eugene, K-5)
Wellsprings School (private school in Eugene, 9-12)


Preparing for your volunteer experience:

SGP Booth at community events: Please read our general brochure, our school brochure, and our most recent newsletter so that you can answer questions about what we do (or you can read the same information on our website: www.schoolgardenproject.org) There will always be an instruction sheet on the back of our display board with more specific instructions for that day.

Teaching kids in gardens:

If you will be doing planting, review our Planting Chart for School Gardens (www.schoolgardenproject.org under How-To) so you’ll know the plant spacing and seed depth requirements. We also encourage you to do some research in you own garden books or on the web so you will have a greater knowledge of the subject to pass on to the students.

Memorize the following SGP Garden Rules so that you can remind kids to follow them:

You are encouraged to wear old clothes since you will likely be getting dirty. Dress for the weather. Layers are good for adjusting to changing weather conditions. Bring your own gardening gloves if you have them.

Talk to the Site Coordinator ahead of time about what your group will be doing and get your questions answered. If possible, get all the tools and materials that your groups will need assembled before the kids come outside.

When you get your group of kids, take a few minutes to get connected. If they are short, get down on their level and make eye contact. Introduce yourself and ask each student to say their name and answer some question about the garden, such as, “What do you like best about the garden?” Ask them to tell you the garden rules.

Explain and demonstrate the garden work they will be doing. Arrange for them to take turns if there is not enough space or materials for them to all work at once. Go slowly enough that the work gets done correctly and seeds are not wasted, but work fast enough to finish in the allotted time (this comes with practice!)

If the students have their own ideas of how to organize themselves for getting a job done, be flexible and give their ideas a try. One of the great things about gardening is that it often leads students to solve problems and find better ways to work together.

The most important thing you communicate to children is not detailed gardening information, but rather your own interest and enthusiasm. The kids will retain the overall feeling of the experience long after the particulars have faded. If you kindle the fire of their enthusiasm and curiosity, they will be motivated to learn the detailed information on their own.

Being able to ask good questions is more useful than knowing all the answers. Try asking open-ended questions that don’t allow a simple yes or no answer. Try to find out what they already know, so you have a foundation on which to build. The best way for information to stick is if it is anchored to something they already know.

If you encounter behavior problems, don’t take it personally and assume that “if only I were a better teacher, this wouldn’t happen.” That is probably not the case. A useful first approach is to reflect back the behavior to the child without judging it. Try to find out why they are doing it. You can ask the group for ideas on how to deal with it, or set a consequence such as loss of the use of a tool or taking a time out away from the group. You can also send the student back to his teacher.

It is important for students to learn how to plant by doing it themselves, but it is also important that the seeds and plants are planted correctly so that they will grow and produce food that the students can later harvest and eat. Try to get your students to plant things correctly, but if they don’t, be willing to stick around after they go back inside so you can add more seeds or re-adjust the starts that were planted so that they will fill in the bed and grow successfully.