Oklahoma City Beautiful

PROJECT PURPOSE

The mission of OKC Harvest is to train young people in the art of gardening and improve the quality of their lives through experiential learning, better nutrition awareness and improved wellness. Research has demonstrated that successful school gardens level the playing fields of health and academic outcomes for students across the socio-economic spectrum. This project would allow expansion of the program, which supports outdoor learning gardens in the Oklahoma City Public Schools, to six additional schools and focus these benefits on the most marginalized portion of our population where students have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19 and who otherwise would have no access to educationally sound outdoor classrooms or organically grown gardens. The project would benefit those who suffer from minimal exposure to nature, wellness coaching and life science at an early age. Our trained garden educators provide bountiful gardens and weekly opportunities for students to engage with their school garden through a customized curriculum that is tied to Oklahoma academic standards in science, math, language, social studies, health, and the arts. Gardens are kept productive year-round by the garden educators and provide access to healthy, locally grown produce, which contributes to reduced food insecurity in the surrounding communities.

EVIDENCE

OKC Harvest activities are guided by relevant studies providing the benefits of school garden programs. ? Improve food and nutrition knowledge (Parmer and others, 2009) ? Improve willingness to try fruits and vegetables (Goldberg, 2009) ? Increased fruit and vegetable consumption (Christian and others, 2014 and improving glucose control and reduced risk of diabetes (Davis and others, 2020) ? Improved attitude toward the environment and science (Skelley & Bradley, 2007) ? Improved academic achievement in all subjects, particularly science (Klemmer and others, 2005) ? Increased physical activity (Bell & Dyment, 2006;Wells and others, 2014) ? Improved inter/intrapersonal skills, collaboration, self-esteem, pride (Robinson & Zajicek, 2005)

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

The target population is primarily urban schoolchildren and their families who live in economically disadvantaged communities and attend schools that receive Title One funding or have a high percentage of free and reduced lunch recipients. OKC Beautiful is the only environmental education and beautification organization serving this population. OKC Harvest program has provided a more intensive experience for our staff who have provided services to nearly two dozen schools during the last five years. We have witnessed the harsh reality facing students who come to school hungry or without the ability to focus due to poor diet and without any understanding of what healthy food is or where food comes from. The issues are reflected in the demographics and performance assessments of the schools provided by the school district. Schools selected for this project have academic achievement indicators of F and chronic absenteeism due to loss of jobs due to Covid, health and family issues.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Program outcomes are collected through surveys of students, teachers, and administrators. The surveys are taken at the end of each semester. Questions include value provided, noticeable benefits, meaningful academic impacts, quality of curriculum and teaching, meaningful exposure to academic standards, performance of the garden educator, desire to continue the program. Results and compiled and analyzed to ensure expectations are met. Students participating and not participating in the program will be given a set of questions about the objectives of the program. The results will be evaluated to determine if the program reached its intended outcomes.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma