MISSION:

The Schoolyard Orchard Alliance believes that having students care for and eat from fruit trees in their schoolyard has the potential to deeply enhance ecological literacy, inspire healthy food choices, and cultivate a generation of engaged ecological citizens. We are dedicated to developing easy-to-use curriculum and activities resources that weave fruit tree care, science standards, ecological literacy, and community building. As Master Gardeners, k-12 educators, university programs, and artists we seek to actualize the learning potential and yield of schoolyard orchards.

Curriculum and Activities that are generated through SOA seek to weave together the following five considerations in a way that keeps it simple for the teachers, healthy for the trees, and educational/nutritious/delicious for the students:

1. Tree Care Activities – What attention/care do Fruit Trees need?  That students can do?
2. Curriculum Standards – What do the students need to learn?
3. Eco-literacy – What can the Fruit Tree teach students about the processes of Life?
4. Character Building – What virtues, character, and ethics do we wish to inspire in the students?
5. Orchard Reporting – What feedback about the trees health, growth, and productivity would be valuable to track and monitor?

For each activity, we will develop or link to the best of resources including websites, pictures, and videos to help make clear the tree care process and the curriculum implementation. 

WHO IS INVOLVED?:

• Master Gardeners and fruit tree care folks
• Garden Coordinators
• Educators and Curriculum writers
• Nutritional Education & Food Justice organizations
• Eco Literacy and Environmental education organizations

WHAT DO WE DO NEXT?

Contact orchardcare at gmail.com to get involved.

NEXT STEPS for Master Gardeners and Orchardists:

1. Developing and Fine Tuning the TREE CARE DOC for EDUCATORS document.  This document is meant to be our storehouse of tree care activity ideas that will be the impetus for curriculum development.
TREE CARE DOC for EDUCATORS:  
http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddbh6d8r_29bqzcwf8

2. Help to Develop and fine tune Seasonal Orchard Care Email Blasts
SOA: Fall Tree Care - Google Docs
http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddbh6d8r_26dqhkgknw

SOA: Late Spring Tree Care - Google Docs
http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddbh6d8r_16dfsr9fhk

3. Be on call for supporting educators as they are developing curriculum.

4. Compile, refine, develop resourses (printouts, websites, videos, images, etc) that make each step easy.

NEXT STEPS for Educators:

1.  Check out the TREE CARE DOC for EDUCATORS document.  Ask for clarification where needed.
TREE CARE DOC for EDUCATORS:    http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddbh6d8r_29bqzcwf8


2. Pick an Activity from TREE CARE DOC for EDUCATORS document.  Create a standards based lesson around the activity.


3. Ask for your dream resources.  What would it take to make this most impactful, successful, engaging, and EASY TO IMPLEMENT.