The Madison Community Foundation has announced a $350,000 award to support outdoor, garden-based learning in over a dozen Dane County schools over the next three years. The grant will fund the work of the GrassRoots/OutdoorWonder (GROW) Coalition – a group of organizations working to support outdoor learning opportunities in our community by creating a network of resources and a unified voice for advocacy.
The Coalition member organizations – the Madison Metropolitan School District, Community GroundWorks, the Community Action Coalition and UW-Extension – plan to work with 15 elementary and middle schools (5 schools per year) within and outside of MMSD to foster garden design and installation, engage communities to maintain gardens, and provide professional development for teachers interested in using gardens as vehicles for learning.
Over the summer, the Coalition will be developing a process for selecting pilot school sites; during Year One all participating schools will be selected from the Madison Metropolitan School District. Schools from other Districts will be eligible to participate in Years Two and Three.
For more information please contact: Rachel Martin, Project Manager – Rachel@SustainDane.org
Madison Area GROW Coalition 