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Mabelvale Garden Update »Mabelvale Garden Update This past week, Karl Heinbockel and fellow Delta Garden Study interns have had the opportunity to escape the fluorescent lights of the office and work in the bright sunshine at the Mabelvale Magnet Middle School gardens and greenhouse. In spite of the oppressive heat, there is still much to do to prepare for the coming school year at Mabelvale Magnet Middle School. We are removing the residue from last year's crops (and weeds!) and replacing them with a buckwheat cover crop to revitalize the soil. The buckwheat cover crop suppresses weed growth and once tilled in will add important organic material back into the soil. This allows new plants the ample nutrients necessary to blossom with great vigor. Healthy soil has been our focus this summer. In the fall, we will concentrate our efforts at producing a variety of food crops with the help of our students at Mabelvale! In the coming weeks, we will be continuing to clean up and organize the garden and greenhouse spaces so that this school year will be a great one for Delta Garden Study's showcase garden - Mabelvale!
FrontPage Article »See the Progress on our New Gardens! Don't forget to visit our Garden Schools’ webpages for pictures and stories about the progress of our new gardens. Liana, Kevin, Ryan and Cale have been busy developing their sites, planting a late summer garden, and getting to know their communities. Many thanks to all of their community members who have donated materials, equipment and labor!
About The Delta Garden Study »About The Delta Garden Study The Delta Garden Study is a $2 million research study funded by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service designed to prevent childhood obesity and social risk behaviors, and improve academic achievement, in middle school children in the Delta and Central regions of Arkansas.

SCHOOL RECRUITMENT

The Delta Garden Study is actively recruiting schools for our full-scale study. Read below for more details and then fill out our School Recruitment Form if your school would like to participate.


Participating Schools Receive:

-  Garden: Schools will receive a 1 acre vegetable, fruit, herb and flower garden.

-  Greenhouse: Schools will receive a new greenhouse or funds to refurbish an existing one if one already exists on the school campus. The greenhouse will be large enough to hold classes indoors during cold weather.

-  Equipment: Schools will receive all necessary tools and materials to support both the garden and greenhouse.

-  Lesson Plans: The Delta Garden Study will provide lesson plans and materials to be used in conjunction with every garden exposure. These lesson plans are aligned to the Arkansas state frameworks in Science, Physical Education, Health and Wellness, Math, and Language Arts.

-  Garden Program Specialist: The Delta Garden Study will provide a full-time Garden Program Specialist for 12 months. He or she will create and maintain the garden, as well as assist in all teaching and program development at his or her school.

-  Support: The school will receive generous support from the Delta Garden Study staff and Garden Manager throughout the duration of the study.


Requirements:

The following criteria are required in order for schools to be eligible for participation:

-  Middle School: School must have at least 200 6th, 7th, and 8th graders on one campus or adjacent campuses.

-  Four Teacher Minimum: At least 4 teachers must be willing to participate in the program.

-  Land: There must be enough available land on the school campus to accommodate a one acre garden. The land can be split up over multiple areas, if needed.

-  Study Exposure: The 200 students chosen to participate in the study must be exposed (45 minutes per exposure) to the garden and/or its curricula at least twice a week for the duration of the academic year.

-  Garden Club: The school must agree to establish a Garden Club through its School Wellness Committee. This afterschool club will be responsible for assisting the Garden Manager in the maintenance and care of the garden and participate in outreach to the local community.

-  Volunteer Hours: The school is responsible for assuring a minimum of 50 hours per month of volunteer hours. This can be contributed by anyone from the school and/or the community and will assist in the sustainability of the garden throughout the entire year.

Schools must also be located in one of the following 42 counties:

Arkansas-Fulton-Ouachita
Ashley-Grant-Phillips
Baxter-Greene-Poinsett
Bradley-Independence-Prairie
Calhoun-Izard-Pulaski
Chicot-Jackson-Randolph
Clay-Jefferson-St. Francis
Cleveland-Lawrence-Searcy
Craighead-Lee-Sharp
Crittenden-Lincoln-Stone
Cross-Lonoke-Union
Dallas-Marion-Van Buren
Desha-Mississippi-White
Drew-Monroe-Woodruff 

If you are not interested in being a full-scale intervention school, consider becoming a control school. Though control schools do not receive a garden and accompanying materials, we offer a $2000 stipend to be used toward an academic program of the school's choice in exchange for allowing us to survey and measure 200 of its students. In addition, we will complete all required BMI measurements for the school's students. If you are interested in becoming a control school, please contact Emily English at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 

 
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