Regional support models can empower garden champions at school sites, build partnerships that support garden programs, and lay the foundation for long-term sustainability. Regional support models can be made up of one or more of the following types of organizations:

• Community Volunteer Based Models (Master Gardeners, Volunteers, Scouts, Community Gardens)
• Non-profit Support Organizations
• University / Service Learning Programs
• Government Programs (Department of Education, Food and Ag, Municipalities, etc.
• School Districts
• Policy that Supports School Gardens
• Nutrition and Waste Management Funded Programs

Visit the National School Garden Support Organization Network, a forum of School Garden Support Professionals.

Read more on our blog: Sustaining School Gardens – Funding Garden Coordinators

The following presentation is part of a longer webinar on regional support models for school gardens.

Common Challenges in Creating and Sustaining School Gardens

• Schools have limited funding.
• Mounting a garden project is a huge task and requires community engagement.
• Summer break creates maintenance challenges. Summer break can also create programming/planning challenges.
• Teachers have their own set of complex variables: no time, many responsibilities, lack of interest, and little knowledge about teaching in the out of doors.
• There are challenges of planning and implementation of solid curriculum that directly links to academic content.
• Networking and communications within the school community requires sophisticated outreach and community building skill. Creating a culture of “environmental solidarity” with all aspects of the school day requires planning (lunchroom composting, classroom recycling, roofwater catchment, non toxic cleaners, organic garden, etc)
• Gardens take a lot of maintenance and a special skill set to keep thriving.

Benefits of a Regional Network

There is power in unity!

• Networks can get larger pools of funding (ie: parcel tax, bond funding, district wide funding). Individual schools can get parent & local support, but often not much more.
• Larger networks have greater political clout when they speak with one voice they can more easily attain: 
  • Publicity
  • Recognition
  • District wide program development (institutionalized curriculum or program planning, etc)
• A network develops relationships, collaborations and colleagues – which in turn strengthen the network
• A network shares the burden, and “recharges the well “by developing relationships
• Landscape resources can be bundled and costs can be reduced (or free) when managed by a network (compost, mulch, soil, etc)
• A network is resilient (more than one person)
• A network acts like a funnel- gathering and sending information where it is most needed.
• A network can share best practices by understanding the journey of many.  This can help to make programs more efficient/successful – less “re creating the wheel”

Elements of Regional Networks

What a successful network looks like & how does it operate

• There is no “one model” of a successful support network/program
• Networks serve their members and members are responsive/active to/in the network
• Networks usually have a mission and defined purpose which is know among its members
• Often these networks are acknowledged by the district which they serve (posted on district web site, proclamation/board resolutions or larger involvement such as funding, staffing, professional development)
• Ideally these networks become a program of the district or a project of a non-profit.
• Institutionalizing school gardens and creating a school garden culture often requires the network to support the following tasks/elements: 
  • Creating the garden
  • Maintaining the garden
  • Sustaining the garden  (financially)
  • Providing professional development and curriculum to support teachers using the garden
  • An understanding of teacher/school culture and needs
  • Networking meetings, workdays, workshops, and e-communication (NING, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, email lists)

Regional Support Organizations Across the Nation