School Gardening for SC Educators
School Gardening for SC Educators is a self-paced, online course developed by Clemson Extension. Participants will learn the basic horticulture skills to start and maintain a school garden. The goal is to help educators, parents, administrators, and other caring adults learn to garden successfully with students. Licensed educators who complete the course will receive twenty (20) renewal credits from the South Carolina Department of Education.
Each registrant will receive:
- Access to the 5-week online course to complete at their own pace
- The Garden STEM Curriculum for Your Garden Classroom (K-8)
- The Seasonal Planting Guide & Calendar for South Carolina School
- Community Gardens Classroom materials, including grade-level specific lessons, activities, and supplies
Course materials and supplies are shipped to participants by mail.
If you are participating in a grant-funded cohort of this course, please do not sign up here. You will receive an invitation from the course instructors with details on accessing the appropriate cohort.
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Learning Objectives
By the end of the online course, you will be able to:
- Develop a school garden plan using techniques like site analysis and seasonal planting
- Identify necessary conditions to grow healthy, safe, and nutritious vegetables year-round
- Discuss resources and techniques to integrate gardening into a school curriculum or youth program.
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Course Topics
The course includes six modules:
- Module 1: Small Gardens, Big Ideas
- Module 2: Healthy Soil and Raised Bed Gardening
- Module 3: What's Growing On? Vegetable Gardening Basics
- Module 4: Food Safety and Integrated Pest Management
- Module 5: Developing Community Resources
- Module 6: Worm Composting Workshop and Resource Round-Up
Professional Development Cohorts
Professional Development cohorts are available with the registration of 10 or more participants from a single school or district and include materials delivered to the school plus a site visit by a Clemson Extension agent.
Additional hands-on workshop opportunities are available for the Professional Development cohorts. These are held on your site or virtually. Program themes and associated costs can be discussed with the program coordinator Amy Dabbs, adabbs@clemson.edu.
