NEW JERSEY

State Contact: Ms. Joni Elliott New Jersey Ag in the Classroom New Jersey Agricultural Society P.O. Box 331 Trenton, NJ 08625-0331

Phone: (609) 292-8897 Fax: (609) 292-3978 E-mail: joan.elliott@ag.state.nj.us Website

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Major Program Accomplishments
The NJ Agricultural Society's Learning Through Gardening Program provides both financial and educational support to elementary schools in NJ. The schools are each required to build and maintain an outdoor garden to be used by all students. Teachers are provided with curriculum support in order to connect the garden with all subject areas. The students participate in a kick off pep rally and a poster and essay contest, and teachers attend a professional development workshop and an end of the year best practices workshop.

In 2007, we funded eight elementary school gardens and introduced a new professional development workshop called Smart Snacks, which uses hands-on activities to learn about the nutrition behind snacks and drinks. We participated in a Healthy Halloween day at a public library and Family Science Night at an elementary school. We also presented individual ag-themed lessons to various non-Learning Through Gardening classrooms.

Major Program Impacts
The program reached approximately 3,500 students who were able to plant, cultivate and harvest their own food. Many students also participated in programs where they were able to prepare meals using food they had grown. A total of 160 teachers attended our various professional development workshops during the year and 12 also attended the end of the year Best Practices workshop. This workshop gives teachers an opportunity to share their schools accomplishments during the year. Teachers reported that not only did student behavior improve, but their own outlook was more positive after visiting the garden.