UF/IFAS Extension and Bok Tower Gardens Partnership

Ridgeview Global Studies Academy has a
vibrant garden used by different classes.
Here students are potting up pepper
plants getting ready for fiesta day.
The mini grant from the Partnership
allowed Roosevelt Academy to complete
the first commercial aquaponics farm in
Polk County run by students.
Extension Agent Susan
Tyler working with
community gardeners to
transplant tomatoes.
OUTREACH HIGHLIGHTS
FALL 2015
The next round of mini grants was offered to any K-12 private, public or charter school throughout the
eight county extension district during the fall of 2015. Thirty-eight school garden mini-grant proposals
were submitted and reviewed and 25 were selected for funding. The average mini-grant award was $3,500.
Twenty grant recipients are designated as Title I schools (at least 75% students receive free or reducedpriced meals). In Polk County, 21 schools received funding to either expand (11) or install (10) a garden on
campus. Four schools in the region (two in Sarasota County, one in Highlands County and one in Pinellas
County) received funding to complete their school garden projects.
SIKES ELEMENTARY
Sikes Elementary in Lakeland has
partnered with Mulberry High School’s
Agriculture Program. The raised bed
frames were constructed at Mulberry
High School and were delivered and
installed at Sikes Elementary the
week before Christmas break. Selina
Fontaine, Sikes lead garden team
teacher, said “I love the sense of
community being built.”
COMMUNITY GARDEN WORKSHOPS
Partnership staff led three Growing Community Garden workshops across Polk
County to foster garden engagement at the grassroots level. The workshops
reached diverse audiences interested in community gardens, including
neighborhood association members, personnel from non-profit organizations,
public-sector representatives, gardeners, and community members. More than 50
attendees from three counties came together to learn how to start and maintain a
community garden using “11 steps to vibrant gardens.” One participant described
this approach as “helpful, clear, and concise.” Comments from the workshop
participants include, “I really feel inspired” and “fantastically helpful, thank you
for all that you do.”
UF/IFAS Extension and
Bok Tower Gardens Partnership
2015 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
UF/IFAS Extension and Bok Tower Gardens Partnership
1 1 5 1 T O W E R B O U L E VA R D
I
LAKE WALES, FL 33853
www.boktowergardens.org
ONSITE HIGHLIGHTS
MISSION
TO ENHANCE COMMUNITIES THROUGH
EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION THAT PROMOTES
HEALTHY LIVING, ENRICHES CULTURE, AND
CONSERVES NATURAL RESOURCES.
VISION
A great deal of progress towards completing new gardens was evident to the more than 160,000
residents and tourists who visited Bok Tower Gardens. Several key projects were completed.
• Demonstration Gardens completed—in the summer of 2015, the renovation and expansion of a wildlife
viewing pond was completed. The kitchen and pollinator demonstration gardens will be completed by the
spring of 2016. Phase I of the Florida Wild Garden opened in the fall 2015 and Phase II will be completed by
the spring of 2016.
• Conservation—Research is proceeding, with three field projects underway on populations of rare plants.
• Programs—Hosted 8 IFAS extension Florida gardening and wildlife education programs at Bok Tower Gardens
during the winter and spring of 2015. These programs engaged more than 400 participants.
• Teacher/Community Leader Meetings and Workshops—Conducted an informal needs assessment with local
stakeholders including: gardeners, non-profit organizations, teachers, community groups, and extension
agents identifying challenges and needs as well as key factors that influence the success of school and
community gardens. We hosted a three-day teacher symposium in July where we launched the 2nd school
garden mini grants program. Thirteen teachers attend from pre-K through High School.
TO BE THE MODEL PUBLIC/PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIP IN THE NATION FOR
ENHANCING COMMUNITIES THROUGH
Students from Fred Wild Elementary
learn how to grow nutritious food.
EDUCATION IN FOOD, CULTURE, AND NATURE.
The Center for Education and Conservation, a hub for the partnership
was completed on the Bok Tower Gardens campus. In September, UF/
IFAS and Bok Tower Gardens staff moved in.
OUTREACH HIGHLIGHTS
WINTER/SPRING 2015
In January 2015, the Partnership awarded seven schools a
total of $28,452 to enhance school gardening projects. The
funding supported a variety of projects, from raised bed
vegetable gardens to outdoor kitchens and an aquaponics
system. A few of the projects are highlighted below.
The partnership between Bok Tower Gardens
and University of Florida Institute of Food
and Agricultural Sciences Extension (UF/IFAS
Extension) engages communities in Polk County, and
throughout Central Florida, in experiential learning
opportunities. This multi-disciplinary approach
encourages an appreciation for nature and science,
art and culture, and food and wellness.
This legislatively-supported partnership addresses challenging
issues among Florida residents related to healthy eating;
physical activity; Science, Technology, Engineering and Match
(STEM) curriculum integration; agricultural literacy; and
environmental stewardship. The expertise of the Bok Tower
Gardens and UF/IFAS Extension collaborative utilizes the most
relevant research and impactful teaching methods to educate
and empower youth, adults, and communities at-large.
FRED WILD ELEMENTARY
GARDENS OF WELL B.E.A.N. (WELL
BALANCED EXERCISE AND NUTRITION)
The goal for the Well B.E.A.N. garden is to improve student
achievement and reduce bullying by cultivating well
balanced student leaders, and to encourage them to eat
nutritious food through varying gardening experiences.
The mini grant allowed the garden team, comprised of an
ESE pre-K teacher, two first-grade teachers, and a fourth
grade teacher, to install a nutrition (vegetable) garden and
refurbish a sensory garden.
Funding for the partnership in 2015
accomplished several major objectives for
both Outreach Programs and On-site
Programs at Bok Tower Gardens:
ROOSEVELT ACADEMY
OUTREACH PROGRAMS
• Creating and enhancing school and community gardens
• Providing technical support and mentoring for school
and community gardens
• Offering teacher/community leader training
programs and workshops
• Presenting programs on Florida Gardening, Food
and Wellness, and Gardening for Wildlife
The system uses tilapia to provide the required nutrients for a variety of crops
held in place by floating rafts. The roots are submerged in water to absorb
nutrients with the water being recirculated back to the fish tanks. The system
holds approximately 7,500 gallons of water, all of which is recirculated and
reused. Students will monitor the system, collect water samples, plant, harvest
and market the crops. Students will also provide tours to visitors interested in
learning more about aquaponics.
R. BRUCE WAGNER ELEMENTARY
LIL SPROUTS’ GARDEN
BOK ACADEMY
In the spring of 2014, the first grade and kindergarten
teaching teams started a small container garden. Due
to the overwhelming enthusiasm of the students and
teachers, the teachers decided to expand the garden to
incorporate not only science but math, reading, writing,
health and social studies standards. After receiving the
mini grant, the teachers expanded the garden to include
six, two-tier raised cedar beds. This allowed each class
to have a whole section in the garden. Students visited
the garden several times a week and kept journals to
document observations and growth of plants. The students
were able to harvest and taste many of the vegetables they
grew in the garden.
ON-SITE DEMONSTRATION GARDENS,
PROGRAMS, AND FACILITIES AT BOK
TOWER GARDENS
• Kitchen Garden & Outdoor Kitchen to showcase plants
as sources of food & the basis of healthy living
• Florida Native Ecosystems & Wildlife Friendly Landscape
display gardens and demonstration areas
• Garden Classroom for school programs and adult
education classes in natural sciences, horticulture,
food and wellness
• Plant conservation research and education
Roosevelt Academy teaches and trains students in grades 6-12 with learning
disabilities to adapt and excel in society. The mini grant allowed Roosevelt
to complete an aquaponic farm project, the first commercial production
aquaponic farm in the county run by students.
Bok Academy’s new outdoor kitchen started humbly, cooking outside with
borrowed equipment, usually from home. The students made sushi and cooked
many vegetable dishes. As middle school students learned to prepare food,
cooking quickly became one of their favorite activities. Students had more
interest in their garden after they learned how to prepare the harvested food.
“The mini grant served as a great encouragement to teach healthy eating and
learning to grow what we eat,” said Bok Academy Agriculture teacher Paul
Rigel. The outdoor kitchen is available to the entire school to use to enhance
course curricula, such as science, health, social studies and history. “The
project was completed by the end of May, just in time to utilize much of the
wide array of vegetables and herbs growing in the gardens,” explained Rigel.
R. Bruce Wagner is classified as a Title I school, with
many students coming from impoverished backgrounds.
The majority of the students had never seen vegetables
growing in a garden and did not have an understanding of
where their food actually comes from.