The Wisconsin School Garden Network supports the growing school garden movement in our state. We offer support for new and existing gardens at schools, early care and education centers, community centers, and after school sites. Our vision is to:
- Improve children’s health and wellbeing by supporting and promoting best practices in garden-based education.
- Connect educators and school garden leaders around the state to free resources, funding opportunities, and inspirational stories via a robust communications network.
- Offer free workshops and technical support for new and existing youth gardens.
- Support garden-based education in urban and rural communities around the state, using regional expertise and community connections
- Engage local and state-level decision makers to lay the groundwork for policy changes that support school gardens and garden-based education.
- Bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to establish goals and priorities for the school garden movement in Wisconsin.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
The Wisconsin School Garden Network is dedicated to achieving greater inclusion and providing equal opportunity for good quality garden-based education in Wisconsin to people of all races, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, incomes, ages, geographic locations, and philosophies.
Our goal is to create a place where educators, parents, and students from all cultures and socio-economic spheres can find resources that address their community’s specific needs. We hope this space will serve as a forum for people within and across Wisconsin communities to share ideas and resources in an environment that is inclusive, respectful, and equitable so that we can learn from each other’s experiences and perspectives.
We are committed to promoting ideas and values that help build a more diverse and inclusive school garden movement, focusing on health equity, environmental awareness, and, above all, happy, healthy children.
Partners
The Wisconsin School Garden Network is supported by the Cultivate Health Initiative (CHI), which is a joint project of Rooted (formerly of Community GroundWorks) and the Environmental Design Lab, in collaboration with healthTIDE and the Obesity Prevention Initiative. CHI is supported by many local, state and national partners including schools and school districts, regional health departments and health coalitions, and state agencies and organizations such as the Wisconsin Department Health Services, the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and UW-Extension.
Funding for the Wisconsin School Garden Network is provided by the Wisconsin Partnership Program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Watch this feature video from the Big 10 Network to learn more about our work and the benefits of garden-based education:
A Garden that Grows Learning
