Designing a school garden for a new way to learn

Budding Botanist: Designing and creating a school garden

Teachers, grab your trowels!

The concept: to inspire teachers to design the botanical garden or vegetable patch that they would like to create at their schools, with prizes awarded to the best ones. But that's not all, the gardens must also be brought to life! The schools must also propose a gardening-related educational program for their students. This competition, launched in 2017, is based on a wonderful collaboration. For this initiative, Klorane Botanical Foundation has partnered with KidsGardening, a major player in the school gardening movement in the United States.

The prize: everything required to bring the garden to life

The winners receive $1000 to create the garden (or expand an existing garden) and purchase the materials required to maintain it.

Enseignants, à vos binettes !

L’idée : inciter les enseignants à imaginer le jardin botanique ou potager qu’ils aimeraient créer dans leur école et récompenser les meilleurs. Bien sûr, ça ne s’arrête pas là, car un jardin, cela doit vivre ! Les écoles doivent aussi proposer un projet de programme pédagogique lié au jardin pour leurs élèves. Ce concours, lancé en 2017, repose sur une jolie collaboration. Pour cette action, Klorane Botanical Foundation s’est associé à KidsGardening, une grande figure du mouvement du jardinage scolaire aux États-Unis.

A competition to help schools set up their own educational gardens and take advantage of what nature can teach their students!

Budding Botanist: Designing and creating a school garden

Teachers, grab your trowels!

The concept: to inspire teachers to design the botanical garden or vegetable patch that they would like to create at their schools, with prizes awarded to the best ones. But that's not all, the gardens must also be brought to life! The schools must also propose a gardening-related educational program for their students. This competition, launched in 2017, is based on a wonderful collaboration. For this initiative, Klorane Botanical Foundation has partnered with KidsGardening, a major player in the school gardening movement in the United States.

The prize: everything required to bring the garden to life

The winners receive $1000 to create the garden (or expand an existing garden) and purchase the materials required to maintain it.

Children learn faster when they get their hands dirty

This is the observation made by everyone who's had the chance to get children involved in a gardening project. Indeed, the benefits go far beyond a deepened knowledge of the botanical world: children learn to care for nature, and they develop a team spirit and a sense of well-being.

Studies even suggest that students who have taken part in gardening activities get better grades in their science classes!

A challenge for city dwellers, but not just!

For each edition, the competition is open to American school kids aged 5 to 18 (grades K – 12). Some are used to urban concrete, others live surrounded by nature. Schools that want to participate submit an application detailing their project.
A panel of experts deliberates each year to pick the winning projects.

New criteria from the 2020-2021 edition

Given the limitations posed by distance and hybrid learning options, applications that propose projects focused on the creation of virtual garden-based learning opportunities or take home gardening kits to better serve students engaged in remote learning were also encouraged and accepted. 18 schools have been granted in 2022, and 20 schools in 2023. They all propose a real social and environmental impact.