Growing Teachers Throughout the Season (GTS) Works to Expand School Year Gardening Activities in Classrooms Around Ohio
 Growing Teachers Throughout the Season (GTS) is a school gardening curriculum that is the result of a partnership between The Ohio State University (OSU) Extension and Columbus City Schools. The goal of GTS is to increase the number of pre-K through grade 12 teachers who teach STEM-based production techniques and workforce skills throughout the traditional school year. GTS was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture awarded to OSU Extension. OSU Extension worked with a pilot group of educators at Columbus City Schools to develop GTS and determine what growing modalities and produce items were most successful for classroom learning. GTS resources include a physical GTS guidebook and free online modules to support the guidebook. The GTS guidebook provides classroom teachers with easy steps to take each month, using three growing methods: indoor LED lights for seed starting, outdoor raised beds with season extension, and indoor hydroponic units.
The GTS growing cycle makes it possible to harvest a different food each month, September through May. Students plant, maintain, harvest and taste nine different produce items during the school year. The GTS guidebook also provides suggestions for curriculum integration with language arts, science, math, technology, and arts.
OSU Extension will host multiple GTS events this fall at the Franklin County OSU Extension Office (2548 Carmack Rd, Columbus, OH 43210). All are welcome to attend:
- September 26: 6-hour Train the Trainer
- September 26 from 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.: 2-hour professional development course
- October 2: 6-hour train the trainer
To sign-up for one of the GTS events visit the website and Facebook page for a sign-up link closer to the training date.
Tim McDermott and Carol Smathers from OSU Extension show GTS attendees a raised bed at the Franklin County OSU Extension office.
Access the GTS guidebook and free online modules using the QR code.
Visit Farm to School Champions in the Youngstown Community
This spring, schools in the Youngstown area were visited by Angie Rupchock-Schafer, Farm to School Regional Specialist from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Midwest Region, along with staff from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. The visit was an opportunity for schools in the region to showcase their farm to school initiatives and provide feedback for future farm to school funding and resources.
The visit began Youngstown City Schools, a 2023 Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant recipient. Angie and members of the Office of Nutrition at the Department of Education and Workforce were given a special presentation by teacher Ms. King and her class at Martin Luther King Elementary School on their experience growing lettuce using hydroponic tower gardens that were purchased with USDA grant funds. Following the presentation, the team visited East High School for a salad bar lunch featuring school grown hydroponic lettuce. During lunch, they discussed the successes and opportunities for growth within the farm to school program with food service director Tascin Brooks, assistant director Joyce Dicks, along with district science educators, building leaders, and the district’s superintendent Jeremy Batchelor.
After lunch, the team visited the Choffin Career and Technical Center where culinary arts students grow and prepare hydroponic lettuce as part of their training. Teacher and Chef Tricia Goodnough welcomed the idea of having culinary students actively participate in production of the food they prepare. Fresh lettuce is used in salads, wraps, and other dishes featured in the student-run “Culinary Connections” cafe.
Fresh, hydroponic lettuce was served up at East High School for lunch.
Angie Rupchock-Schafer (USDA) and Hannah Hart (DEW) speak with Choffin Career and Technical Center’s Culinary Arts instructor, Tricia Goodnough
The following day the team visited Howland Local Schools in the morning to observe breakfast at a local high school and elementary as well as have a conversation with food service director, Chef Justin Pancake, on his farm to school initiatives including hydroponic tower gardens and outdoor raised garden beds. Chef Justin spoke about the benefits he sees when children are able to take part in the growing of local food. He also mentioned the barriers many food service directors face when trying to start and/or grow farm to school programs including funding, labor, and buy in from the greater school community. Ultimately, Justin is continuing to push forward with both his indoor and outdoor growing initiatives at Howland Local and is excited to serve students fresher, scratch cooked meals that they enjoy.
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Senior leadership from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce including Dr. Chris Woolard, Jessica Horowitz-Moore, and Dr. Brigette Hires learn about Howland Local Schools hydroponic tower gardens from Chef Justin Pancake with Angie Rupchock-Schafer and two members from the Office of Nutrition.
The team spent the afternoon visiting Boardman Local Schools for a tasty lunch featuring side salads of school grown lettuce and participate in the district’s popular “Tot Chef” afterschool cooking class for forth graders. Boardman food service director Natalie Winkle’s passion for providing students fresh, healthy food continues to grow as several schools in the district are now growing hydroponic lettuce and high school students participate in growing in outdoor raised beds as part of a garden club that Natalie advises. Her Tot Chef program aims to teach elementary students how to prepare meals and snacks full of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains on their own – a skill that many students lack before joining the program.
Members of the USDA and Department of Education and Workforce team worked alongside the Tot Chef students to cut fruit, vegetables, bread, and deli meat for bento boxes that the students assembled and snacked on. Following the class, students received a special visit from the Office of Nutrition’s mascot, Munch the Fox!
Rebecca Naab (DEW), Angie Rupchock-Schafer (USDA), and Hannah Hart (DEW) with fresh cucumbers for Tot Chef bento boxes.
Munch the Fox with Tot Chef students.
Banner created by Tot Chef students.
Lodi Family Center Boasts Gardening Activities and Fresh Produce in their Summer Food Service Program
Lodi Family Center serves the village of Lodi by offering a safe place for families and their children to congregate and offers programs and services that promote health and wellness. The organization has been a sponsor of the Summer Food Service Program since 2012 and has excelled in incorporating local foods in program meals. Rebecca Rak, the Executive Director, became interested in Farm to School programming because she noticed children were not engaged in gardening or farming activities, despite the village of Lodi being surrounded by farmland. She believed these activities would be beneficial for the children served at Lodi Family Center and began to explore how they could grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables to serve in program meals.
The center initially started a 4-H club to introduce kids to activities that were not expensive to participate in. They quickly expanded their offerings to include a raised bed garden program with the help of Ohio State University Master Gardener Volunteers, community partners, and grant funding from GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant. A local farmer assisted with the construction of the raised beds and taught lessons about companion planting and nutrition. A local cemetery donated dirt to the center. Children engage in the harvest and preparation of the produce grown. Rebeca notes an enormous shift in the dynamic of their Summer Food Service Program since starting their garden. Not only is the food served healthier, but she feels gardening has been a therapeutic outlet for many of the children with mental health conditions. With a successful garden bounty, Lodi Family Center is able to offer a fresh produce bar to the children. Rak says, lettuce and spinach are the most popular vegetables children eat, while carrots are the most popular for them to grow.
Last year, Lodi Family Center hosted a kids-style “Chopped Challenge.” Children used fresh produce from the produce bar and a mystery box item to create a fun, healthy, and visually appealing snack. The judges scored the dishes based on the following criteria: if "rainbow colors" of fruits and vegetables were used, how well the child could explain the nutrition components used, and if the snack met the USDA meal pattern.
Lodi Family Center has a total of nine raised beds, multiple containers, and hydroponic towers for gardening. Rebecca’s advice for sponsors wishing to start a garden is, “Start with container planting and stick with the basics. When you are picking produce to grow, choose sweet varieties to improve acceptance with kids, such as opting for buttercrunch over iceberg lettuce. Put kids on teams to plant, care for, and harvest produce. This teaches them responsibility and how to work together.”
Farm to Summer Events & Promotions
Farm to Summer Celebrations: Summer is here! If you are a summer meal provider or a partnering organization participates in the Summer Food Service Program or the Seamless Summer Option, consider offering local food items as part of your meal program, as a taste test, or as part of a learning activity.
Celebrate Farm to Summer by purchasing and crunching locally and regionally grown cucumbers for Cucumber Crunch Day on June 27! While June 27 is Cucumber Crunch Day, you can host a Cucumber Crunch anytime this summer to celebrate. K-12 schools, early care and education sites, hospitals, colleges and universities, farms, state and local agencies, non-profit organizations, local businesses, groups, and even households can register to Crunch this year! Anyone who wants to show support for local farmers and school food can join!
Members of The Ohio State Extension celebrating Cucumber Crunch Day – June 2023
The Farm to Summer Challenge recognizes sponsors for participating in Farm to Summer activities. Child nutrition sponsors completing the challenge will be featured on the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School website and receive a Gourd, Silverbeet or Broad Bean award from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. To be recognized, take part in at least one activity from one of the challenge areas:
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Eat: Serve locally grown food or eat a locally grown cucumber for Cucumber Crunch Day.
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Grow: Participate in a gardening activity, take an agriculture related field trip or host a gardening professional, such as Master Gardener for a lesson.
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Engage: Share your Farm to Summer activities through social media, local media coverage, a newsletter, a website, or other engagement channel.
Follow the links below to register your Farm to Summer Celebrations:
Cucumber Crunch Sign-Up
Farm to Summer Challenge Sign-Up
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