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Running Head: Eat Green

PPE 310: Health Literacy for Schools

Eat Green
Signature Assignment Outline
Sara Sanchez
Course # 89869
Dr. Hesse

Eat Green
Introduction
In schools, it is often valued that we teach students to care about others around them.
Each day we encourage them to make choices that will have positive effects on the world. By
giving students the opportunity to interact with the world, through sustainability it will allow
them to see how their actions directly affect the world around them. Easy ways schools can
encourage sustainability are through community gardens and composting. However, students do
not have to stop there they can learn how to use their food that they grew in cooking classes that
would encourage healthy eating and teach students the nutritional values in foods. Students often
do not understand the value of what they put into their bodies, only that it tastes good, this will
allow them to understand where their food comes from and why it is nutritional for them.
Creating a sustainable school environment will allow for healthy eating, team building and
valuing the earth we live on.
For more in depth information on healthy eating and ideas, go to
http://sarasanchezprofessionalprofile.weebly.com.
Literature Review
In Local Sustainability at school: a political reorientation by Sandra Wooltorton, she
states that her main purpose is to reorient the school community towards a culture of
sustainability (1998). In this article, she delves deeper into explaining case studies in three
different schools, each with its own connection with sustainability at their schools. She states, in
her final statement that, The result is a community culture of ongoing transformative learning
towards sustainability resulting from the very high community participation: in the wholecommunity meetings, in the various coordinating groups and in the various community activities

Eat Green
that are regularly held to learn and to build or maintain buildings, grounds or friendships. She
closes, by stating the benefits of creating sustainable environment within a school system.
In Teaching Through Modeling: Four Schools' Experiences in Sustainability Education
Higgs and McMillan discuss most schools provide few role models, individual or institutional,
from which students can observe and learn more sustainable behaviors, (2006). Throughout this
article Higgs and McMillan discover what sustainable principles should be taught in school.
Meg Riordan and Emily Klein discuss in their article Environmental Education in
Action: How Expeditionary Learning Schools Support Classroom Teachers in Tackling Issues of
Sustainability the impacts of the environmental education movement. Education reformers
recognize EE as an effective tool in capturing students enthusiasm for learning in subject areas
ranging from math and science to literature (2010). Later in the article it is mentioned that,
Environmental education pedagogy is grounded in a view of teaching as a creative and
dynamic process in which pupils and teachers are engaged together in a search for solutions to
environmental problems (2010). This type of teaching and learning will lead students in
identified key areas of need for professional development in environmental education; among
these are: involving communities in environmental and health initiatives, networking
opportunities for teachers to share best practices, strategies and techniques for teaching students
critical thinking skills, and integrating EE into K-12 curriculum (2010).
In Learning Gardens and Sustainability Education: Bringing Life to School and Schools
to Life, Ming discusses how learning through school gardens is developing all over the world.
By learning through school gardens, students will cultivate a sense of place, foster curiosity and
wonder, discover rhythm and scale, values of biocultural diversity, practical experience,
interconnectedness, as well as awakening the sense (2014). He finally states that Gardens

Eat Green
encourage children [and adults] to go outside of the classroom and put knowledge into
practice. . . . Experience deepens learning through creating a back and forth movement between
the old and new ways of knowing (2014).
Dr. Ozer states in her article, The Effects of School Gardens on Students and Schools:
Conceptualization and Considerations for Maximizing Healthy Development that garden
programs can enhance students learning in academic, social, and health-related domains
(2006). Dr. Ozer later states that outdoor learning laboratories, as aesthetically pleasing
spaces for children to play, and, most recently, as places to promote the consumption of fresh
produce among a youth population with markedly elevated rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes
(2006). Some challenges with having this type of program would be schools face multiple
challenges in the implementation of garden programs, mainly related to limited resources of
funding, personnel, and time, (2006). Although the gardens are often developed and
maintained by volunteer efforts on the part of teachers, parents, and community members, there
are clear benefits to funding at least a part-time teacher or garden coordinator to dedicate time to
the garden program and its integration into the school curriculum, (2006). Lastly, Dr. Ozer
states In summary, school gardens are a promising approach in promoting the physical,
psychosocial, and intellectual development of school-aged children while also potentially
strengthening the school setting (2006).
Synthesis
A community garden will have many benefits on society. It will allow students to work
and grow serving a common purpose. A community garden will allow students to maintain
positive relations with their school and outside community. It will support students to have
healthy body and mind as well as working together to have a positive place to live. Along with

Eat Green
living healthy, a community garden will allow students to learn multiple ways to solve a problem
as well as the many facets of a problem. A community garden will allow students to understand
the multiple factors of the way something works.
Practical Implications
Organization
In all great ideas, there always needs to be the glue that holds it altogether. The glue in
this particular idea would be parents, teachers, students and volunteers to keep it running. Its a
big idea, but without people to help run it there is no way for it to keep going. The big idea is for
schools to become environmentally conscious through community gardens, cooking classes, and
nutrition classes, this project will be called Eat Green. Eat Green will entail school wide garden,
individual and family cooking classes, and nutrition classes. The purpose is to encourage healthy
living and build community.
Who will be there? The organization include teachers, students, and faculty. Everyone
will be involved, even outside community members (families and friends). Each department will
have a leader who will be in change and manage any problems and answer questions. In the
community garden department this person will be in charge of how the plants are doing, making
sure everyone has their job. The cooking instructor will be in charge of having classes each
month that include the fruits and vegetables that the school grows in their garden. The nutrition
instructor will be in charge of teaching students about foods and what is healthy or unhealthy. All
three departments will be the heads of Eat Green and in charge of what goes on in the program.
Integration

Eat Green
In schools, teachers may use the garden to teach students about biology and other life
sciences. This will help students become more engaged in the lessons by being able to touch and
interact with what they are learning on. Classrooms will be able to go outside and utilize all of
the aspects of the garden. Each class will have their own garden box that they will be able to use,
as seen in appendix A. By having the garden set up this way, students and specific classrooms
will be able to utilize their needs in a specific way for their lessons.
Community
By having students work together on the garden they are able to work with their
classmates and fellow community members to build something that is beautiful. In appendix B it
shows how a school can work together to help their school community. The school works
together and builds their garden once it is completed students sell their goods, in order to provide
food for their low poverty community. Students are able to use their skills to help towards a
greater cause. Many students do not know the value in service learning and helping others, this
will give them the tools they need. Students will learn how to vocalize their ideas and build
greater ideas while helping their community.
Having a community garden will also help provide food and positive interactions with the
outside community. In appendix C, children are paired with an elderly person to plant and grow
food for their community. Eat Green will allow students to partner with various members of the
community which will allow the community to grow. Students will be able to learn and grow not
only from their school community but the outside community as well.
Nutrition

Eat Green
The nutrition specialist will teach students the value in what is healthy and unhealthy.
Many students do not know what to put into their bodies so it is difficult for them to understand
what to eat. The nutrition class will be treated just like any other class that students are taught,
however students will only attend for one semester. Every grade level will have a level of
instruction that will teach them about healthy living. In the classroom instead of having chair
they will be constantly moving on yoga balls. Throughout instruction students will be actively
engaged by incorporating movement in the lesson. Having a course like this one will help
students understand what to eat as well as what is means to have a healthy lifestyle.
Incorporating Healthy Living/Technology
Eat Green will allow students to understand what a healthy life looks like. The
community garden will give students the resources to integrate science, nutrition and community
into their daily life. Eat Green has many benefits that will allow the school and community to
flourish, however the students individual progress will grow providing students with wellrounded learning. Students will be able to understand what healthy living is and incorporate
these skills into their daily life which will help them grow into successful adults.
The Big Event
The launching event will include, showing off the grounds for a community garden,
introducing staff (volunteers), introducing the idea, having healthy foods for families to try while
they talk and play games. This event will show how working and building together will support a
better community for children. There will be a variety of food to eat, for people with allergies
will have much to choose from. Some motivational speakers will also be there to help kids and
parents become excited for some changes to come. By the end, parents and students will have a
full understanding of what Eat Green is all about.

Eat Green
Conclusion
Eat Green, will help students learn the values of hard work and team work. It will help
students learn what foods are good for you and where they come from. After the first year, it is
imaginable that the program will go through many obstacles with students and volunteers.
However, students will be able to understand what it will be like to build an organization from
the ground up. In three years, the program will have a strong and regular support group with
many events that will support the school and community. In five years, this idea will catch on to
districts around the state. Other schools and districts will understand how building a community
garden will not only help healthy living, but also integrate subjects such as science. Eat Green
will allow communities all around thrive off of the foods they grew and help aide against
harmful acts against the environment

Eat Green
Appendix
A.

B. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pElsMmFhNc
C. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0MVnRA50n8

References
Koh, M. W. (2014). A Review of Learning Gardens and Sustainability Education: Bringing Life
to School and Schools to Life. Journal Of Environmental Education, 45(1), 74-75.
doi:10.1080/00958964.2014.843416
Lyons Higgs, A., & McMillan, V. M. (2006). Teaching Through Modeling: Four Schools'
Experiences in Sustainability Education. Journal Of Environmental Education, 38(1), 3953.
Ozer, E. J. (2007;2006;). The effects of school gardens on students and schools:

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Eat Green
Conceptualization and considerations for maximizing healthy development. Health
Education & Behavior, 34(6), 846-863. doi:10.1177/1090198106289002
Riordan, M., & Klein, E. J. (2010). Environmental Education in Action: How Expeditionary
Learning Schools Support Classroom Teachers in Tackling Issues of Sustainability.
Teacher Education Quarterly, 37(4), 119-137.
Wooltorton, S. (2004). Local Sustainability at School: a political reorientation. Local
Environment, 9(6), 595-609. doi:10.1080/1354983042000288085