Texas

Teachers who mix gardening with their lesson plans tell success stories that sound too good to be true. But Barbara Storz, who teaches teachers how to use gardens to motivate students, believes every story because she sees them first-hand.

The Texas Cooperative Extension horticulturist in Hidalgo County begins her fourth year of Master Gardener and Junior Master Gardener training to teachers this summer.

"It is nothing short of miraculous what gardening can do for teachers and students," said Storz. "Kids who were failing begin to master math and science as they read blueprints for a garden or greenhouses. Or they learn fractions by following recipes and they begin to sail through their TAKS tests."

Storz said the self-esteem of students soar when they donate fruits and vegetables they grew to the needy, or when they present flowers they grew to their mothers. Others who were bored and disconnected suddenly assume responsibility for their gardens and become involved. And teachers, she said, report that gardening increases parental participation.

Among the many presenters in the six-day training will be teachers who will recount their gardening successes.

"We'll have one teacher, David Day of Los Fresnos, who teaches fractions by baking zucchini bread using zucchini grown by the kids," Storz said. "He's going to show us how he does it."

Debbie Villalon of Weslaco High School, who was featured on CNN for her use of gardening at Weslaco High School, will share her experiences. Some second grade teachers from McAllen, Bernice Brooks and Juanita Olivarez, will discuss their programs."

Last year, gardening programs donated 12,000 pounds of school-grown produce to local food pantries.

"The food pantry employees talk to the students about the importance of feeding the hungry," Storz said. "Kids just love to hear about the good they're doing and their spirits really soar."

The annual summer training for teachers will be held June 6 to 11 at the U.S. Department of Agriculture facilities in Weslaco. The training program provides teachers with the horticultural skills and resources needed to develop outdoor math, science, or social studies labs at their schools. Teachers earn 46 continuing education units and have the opportunity to become certified Texas Master Gardeners.

The training is sponsored by Texas Cooperative Extension, part of the Texas A&M University System; the Master Gardener Association; Texas Parks and Wildlife; Texas Forest Service; and the Better Living for Texans program.

Nearly 30 professionals and Master Gardener volunteers will present programs and hands-on workshops on amending soils, propagating plants, using a tiller, building raised beds, installing drip irrigation, building vegetable gardens and creating habitats to support wildlife.

The training includes a tour of the Benito Treviño ranch in Starr County to study the many uses of native plants.

Teachers receive the Master Gardener handbook, a program guide, vegetable and flower seeds and two Junior Master Gardener curriculums. One curriculum can be used to plant a vegetable garden in the fall and the other to plant a habitat garden in the spring.

"Whichever curriculum they choose, their students will graduate as certified Junior Master Gardeners," Storz said. "While both curriculums are correlated to the Texas Essential Skills and Learning Guidelines for third through fifth grades in math, science, social studies and language arts, we have had numerous successful programs in all grades, including high school."

Registration for the training is $190, which includes all classroom materials, curriculums, seeds, the ranch tour and daily lunches. Class space is limited, so Storz recommends early registration. The registration deadline is May 20.

For more information, contact the Extension office in Hidalgo County at 956-383-1026, or e-mail b-storz@tamu.edu.

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Barbara Storz begins her fourth year this summer of teaching Master Gardener classes to school teachers who learn how to mix gardening with their lesson plans. (Texas Agricultural Experiment Station photo by Rod Santa Ana III)

Date: 5/26/05

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