Stepping out of the traditional classroom setting and into a school garden can be an exciting learning opportunity at school. A garden teaches science, math, visual arts and more. It is far more fun to determine the fastest growing plant in the garden by charting the growth rate, rather than an abstract example in a textbook.
The connection between learning about nutrition and growing food in the garden is real. Hands on nutrition learning results in kids eating more fruits and vegetables, regardless of whether they were grown in the garden. It also gives kids lifelong appreciation for fresh food. For many kids, a school garden may be their only contact with any garden – and being outdoors in nature. Preparing the garden, planting seeds and watching them grow into something that you can eat teaches the full cycle of where food comes from. Instilling pride and curiosity from garden-based learning early on, then powers kids to want to learn more. The garden provides a wide range of physical activity – digging, planting, weeding and watering. The kids are so involved they do not realize they are exercising. Exercise in the garden involves all muscle groups doing bends and stretches – and then some fine motor skills as well, such as placing seeds in the group and picking the vegetable from the plant. For young children, garden based-learning helps to develop motor skills that are happening during that early developmental window of opportunity. The garden teaches life lessons. Forget to water something for a couple of days and return to see it struggling or dead. The reinforcement of positive progress is the fruit or vegetable itself. Kids learn the hard work it takes to have a successful garden and this contributes towards teaching them a good work ethic. One of the most rewarding attributes of a school garden is the sense of community spirit. No one child is responsible for the garden – it is a team effort. Many kids enjoy making a contribution towards the environment at school and producing food for the cafeteria. In the garden, they learn that the hard work of everyone pays off. If your children are attending in person school this year, ask your school and teachers about starting a school garden. There are many free, evidence-based teaching and learning materials available, such as the SAGE curriculum for early care and education preschools. Time spent in the garden is a great outdoor learning opportunity for all ages!
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With hundreds of thousands of students heading back to school next month, schools are looking to reassure parents and teachers that they are COVID-19 safe. A key strategy to this is back-to-school testing – identifying positive infections, particularly among kids who often do not show symptoms.
Early detection can prevent the spread of COVID-19. Kids that test positive can quarantine, preventing further spread among other students, teachers and staff at school as well as family members at home. While there are many places in the community to do testing, school seems to be the obvious choice for these 5 reasons: 1. CONVENIENCE Your kids are already spending 6 hours a day or more at school. Particularly if you have young ones, you may be dropping them off and picking them up every day. Since your child and you are already going to the school, why not do the testing there in a secure and private room or even right in your car. You can be even be there with them for parent coaching and morale support. This saves you a trip to get them to a testing facility or waiting around at the doctor’s office. 2. SAFE PLACE Your kids are comfortable in a place they know and trust. They are surrounded by other students, teachers and staff that they know. If they have questions about the test, they feel comfortable asking for more information. You can even be there with them to praise them even more. 3. FREE SERVICE Many schools will be getting state and federal assistance to administer testing for COVID-19. You do not have to worry that your kid forgot to tell you that they needed a fee for the test. There will be no bills, invoices or surprise paperwork. 4. EVERYONE IS GETTING TESTED In order for the testing to be effective, as a strategy to keep kids safe, everyone has to participate. As a parent, you will have one less thing to monitor, since the schools will have testing in place for all kids as a regular part of back to school activities. You can feel a little better about the fact that all the kids at school are getting a test, and that precautions for spreading COVID-19 are in place. 5. TESTING IS EASY AND PAINLESS—JUST SPIT Everyone has seen the swab tests which can be uncomfortable and even sometimes painful. The ASU bPCR COVID-19 test—the test that most Arizona schools will be using—is a saliva test. Kids just have to spit into the sample collection tube. It’s easy and non-invasive. Plus the saliva test is many times more accurate that swab tests. Our kids told us that it was actually fun! We must all continue to be vigilant in other proven measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 – hand washing, wearing a mask and keeping a safe distance. Testing, in addition to these other measures, will assist us in getting ahead of the spread, and potentially save others from contracting the virus. A return to the classroom this fall will also mean a return to in-person learning. Some teachers will be fully vaccinated, but some will not. Testing teachers regularly could bring teachers added peace of mind and help prevent outbreaks. Schools want to not just open, but open safely with confidence.
Many students, especially the youngest ones, will not be vaccinated when they return to the classroom in the fall. Younger children can often carry the COVID-19 virus without showing any symptoms – thereby helping to spread the virus far and wide. Regular testing can help to minimize the spread. Testing is important to teachers, because these positions do not allow for the opportunity to work from home where one may stay isolated to minimize exposure risk. Teachers’ risk of being exposed to the virus is increased when they are teaching in the classroom. Not all teachers will be vaccinated, and some who are vulnerable can be at a higher risk for complications. Testing would give teachers one more line of defense. Schools will be leaning on proven strategies to control the COVID-19 virus – wearing masks, washing hands and distancing from one another. Many schools are adding testing to these protocols. Even some testing is better than none. It is likely that some of the teacher population will fall ill due to COVID-19 during the school year – even with taking all the proper precautions. Testing often provides a chance for early treatment. The earlier you can seek treatment, the better you off you are. And the less likely you are to spread to others. Teachers will not be the only ones to be tested in schools – staff, students and voluntary personnel should also be tested regularly. Schools are going through the process of making these decisions now, so that in-person learning can continue through the school year. A good colleague of mine recently told me, “You are only as good as your next grant.” I am very excited to share that I have just received a really great and exciting award!!! And, I am looking for a postdoctoral fellow to share the good times with!
Many of you have heard about my Sustainability via Active Garden Education (SAGE) project. SAGE has been NIH-funded by two grants and one cooperative agreement for over 10 years. And now, we just got a fourth award! Talk about letting the good times roll! I am so excited that SAGE is now part of the RADxUP family of research! Yep, I was recently awarded a two-year opportunity to investigate strategies to get children safely back to in person learning via the RADxUP Back to School II research opportunity. The new project, Back to ECE Safely with SAGE—or just BE SAGE--builds on the original SAGE project. SAGE is a community engaged, free, garden-based physical activity and nutrition program for ECE sites in underserved areas in Phoenix, Arizona. But, back on message--I am looking for a postdoctoral fellow. I have my favorite job ever in the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation at ASU. I’ve got it all! I have great colleagues, amazing intellectual resources, unparalleled administrative support, a state of the science and really hip urban campus to work at, no winter, and, of course, I have a stellar research team at ASU. The only thing that is missing in my life right now is a talented and enthusiastic postdoc. So, I’m asking you, my good colleagues, friends, and academic family, would you be willing to help me find the perfect postdoc to work with me on BE SAGE? THE LUCKY CANDIDATE This position will be located at the Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus—downtown, because that is where the action is! ASU is a large, comprehensive, research university. ASU is called a “New American University,” one dedicated to the simultaneous pursuit of excellence, broad access to quality education, and meaningful societal impact. If you read our Charter and Design Aspirations, you will see that inclusion and success are our values that drive the enterprise. We are all about inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning as ways to address society’s greatest challenges. Postdoctoral fellows are essential components of a successful research program. I am looking for a passionate postdoctoral scholar to ensure the productivity of the BE SAGE RADxUP study! I go into more details below, but for those of you only skimming: If you or someone you know may be interested, then please email a cover letter and CV to me at [email protected]. And, forward this link widely! Also, yeah, and while you are at it, please follow me on Twitter: @DoctorLee and the SAGE project @SAGE_research_ Now, you know that qualified applicants are going to have to show proof that they are eligible to work in the USA and have completed their PhD in a health-related research area such as public health, psychology, health communication, or nursing from an accredited university—that is just university policy. Also, I am looking for someone who has a desire and commitment to working with underserved populations, and who has really great prior research experience, working on research projects, preferably NIH or other federally funded projects. Applicants will also have to show evidence of effective communication skills both speaking and writing, because as scientific leaders, that is mostly what we do. MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE GIG Fellowship duties will involve a combination of the following activities: grant development and writing; data analysis; demonstrating and advancing an independent plan of research; and mentoring and peer mentoring activities. The postdoctoral fellow will work with data and analyses investigating COVID-19 mitigation strategies, physical activity, behavioral nutrition and sustainability of health habits using policy and environmental strategies in ECE sites. The postdoctoral fellow will collaborate and lead scholarly activities including publishing scientific manuscripts, writing grants and presenting scientific findings. To sum up: there’s heaps of data, lots of writing, and this person would get to work with me—this opportunity is an E ticket ride! Something else that is super cool about this opportunity is that the RADxUP opportunity is that it includes over 70 research groups throughout the US along with a data coordination site. So hypothetically, a postdoc in this position will get to make connections all around everywhere with lots of other investigators—this is networking bonanza! Wait, did I mention that RADxUP stands for Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostic Testing in Underserved Populations? The RADxUP opportunity aims to get children back to in person learning by using the ASU COVID-19 saliva test along with other strategies that reduce transmission such as masks, distancing, hand washing, and outdoor learning—that is where the SAGE garden stuff comes in. BE SAGE is an extension of SAGE. For the BE SAGE study, parents and children at designated ECE sites are invited to participate in free, back-to-ECE safely COVID-19 screening using the ASU COVID-19 saliva test. And then we roll out the SAGE garden curriculum using some technology enhancements to help get teachers and kids out of doors and close the education gap that has been happening during the pandemic. Of course, we give the kiddos hats to keep them safe from the sun exposure (after 10 years we have really thought of everything). Thanks! Rebecca E. Lee, PhD http://rebeccaelee.weebly.com/ Professor, Edson College of Nursing & Health Innovation Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention https://chpdp.asu.edu/ Sustainability Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability Arizona State University 550 N. 3rd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004 Email: [email protected] |
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