ARTeenGarden

Latest News

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.

Employment Opportunities

Garden Program Specialist

Position Number
50044049
Group
Professional/Manager
Title
GARDEN PROGRAM SPECIALIST - PEDS
Dates
From 4/27/2012 to 5/11/2012
Description
**** Position is located in Central Arkansas area ****

The Garden Program Specialist will participate as part of a large research team and assist the Principal Investigator and Co-Investigators in the development, implementation, evaluation and presentation of a school-based garden intervention designed to address childhood obesity and social risk behaviors. This position will be responsible for establishing and maintaining the 1-acre garden plot and greenhouse at one middle school site, including the initial site preparation, participation and supervision of the building of the greenhouse and other garden structures and directing all planting, harvesting, and maintaining of crops, irrigation, fertilization and other related maintenance of the physical garden site. The Garden Program Specialist will be responsible for teaching 6-8th grade science, math, and literacy-based lessons benchmarked to the state educational frameworks and integrated with the garden program, in conjunction with classroom teachers.

Bachelor's Degree OR High School/GED plus 4 years of professional garden/agricultural experience required. Teaching experience or experience working with children (e.g. Boy/Girl Scouts, 4-H Club, FFA, etc.) strongly preferred.

Salary: $33,260

Apply Now

Delta Garden Study Featured in ACHRI Program Launch Video

Featured School: Harrisburg Middle School

The whole school got spring fever this week. The kids planted thousands—literally, thousands— of plants week, including: watermelons, squash, cucumbers, sweet corn, tomatoes, zinnias, sunflowers, carrots, beets, lettuces, kale, chard, herbs, and snap dragons. The students each have their own beds and we’re seeing them take on a lot of ownership. Several of them regularly come out at recess to weed, water, and fertilize their crops. This system comes with a lot of risks—sometimes the rows turn out crooked, or a few plants get mashed in. There are probably folks that would say we’re crazy for turning over a garden plot to a group of 12 year olds. But Jill and I would rather have an imperfect garden where the students are passionate and feel empowered.

Study Timeline

About the Delta Garden Study

The Delta Garden Study is a $2 million research study funded by the USDA's Agriculture 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. Led by Dr. Judy Weber, Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the College of Medicine at UAMS, the study's primary outcome variables are increased fruit and vegetable intake and increased minutes of physical activity. Secondary variables include reduction in body mass index (BMI) and body fat, reductions in social risk behaviors, and increased school bonding, improved student grade point averages and benchmark testing scores.

Delta Garden Study is Recruiting Schools

The Delta Garden Study School Recruitment Team is actively seeking middle schools in the Delta and Central regions of the state to participate in the 2012-2013 academic year.

Intervention study schools will receive:

	1 acre garden with Greenhouse
	Full time Garden Manager for 12 months
	All necessary tools and materials to support the garden
	Full year of garden-based science lesson plans mapped to the state frameworks
	Technical support from the Delta Garden Study Staff

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!

ACHRI's Annual Report

The ACHRI Childhood Obesity Prevention Program, of which the Delta Garden Study, under the direction of Dr. Judith Weber, is a key component, was recently featured in the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute’s 2011 Annual Report. The program provides leadership and coordination at the local and state levels for research, education, and policy that focus on understanding the causes of infant, childhood, and adolescent overweight and obesity and on addressing strategies for the prevention and reduction of this epidemic. To learn more about the program, please visit the program website

Delta Garden Study named as a FoodCorps Host Site
as Part of 10-State Launch

FoodCorps, a new national AmeriCorps school garden and farm-to-school service program, has named the DGS as one of 10 Host Sites it will collaborate with to launch the initiative. FoodCorps will serve vulnerable children, improving access to healthy, affordable food, while training young leaders for careers in food and agriculture. FoodCorps service members will be placed at each of our four garden schools during the 2011-2012 school year